By Noah Rue, Contributor
Many restaurants across the country rely on the hot summer months to bring in more business. If you live in a tourist community, the summer could be your biggest money maker. More people are out, spending money, and having fun.
However, extreme heat events are becoming more common with each passing summer. Temperatures are rising, and that can present a few challenges for the restaurant industry.
Whether you’re dealing with an extremely hot kitchen, patio service, or you’re catering an event in extreme temperatures, your staff’s well-being should be your top priority. When you’re dealing with unsafe working conditions, it’s essential to know what to do to keep people safe.
Let’s take a look at how high temperatures are impacting the restaurant industry, and what you can do to keep your staff protected from extreme heat.
How the Heat Is Impacting Restaurants
Currently, there is no federal heat standard in place via OSHA, though there is plans to develop one. However, OSHA does consider “excessive heat environment” to be a workplace hazard and recommend employers start taking precautions when temperatures exceed 91 degrees. That’s for both kitchen environments and outdoor seating. This means during extremely hot temperatures, people are still required to come to work, even if the conditions are unsafe.
Over the last few years, as temperatures have continued to rise, that has caused two major issues for restaurants across the country.
First, it’s put the health and safety of thousands of employees at risk. That’s especially true if they’re serving food and drinks outdoors, or working in an extremely hot kitchen.
It’s also contributed to the shortage of restaurant workers in the U.S. Some restaurant employees have staged walk-outs and gone on strike due to unsafe conditions in the heat. The last thing you want is for your place of business to be associated with an employee strike. Recognizing extreme heat as a health and wellness threat and prioritizing your employees will not only make you a more desirable place to work, but it will improve morale, attract more business, and increase worker longevity.
So, how can you make sure you’re protecting your staff from hot temperatures?
Adjust Your Practices
The easiest way to keep your employees safe is to adjust any of your current practices that could be putting them at risk. That could include things like:
Changing your hours
Not serving food during the hottest parts of the day
Focusing on cold options for customers
Making sure your entire restaurant is well ventilated and air conditioned
Fans & shade at any outdoor service station
Giving staff additional breaks to cool down
Not all of these options are feasible for every restaurant, of course. It’ll be up to the individual establishments to figure out what it can do.
If you’re not able to change your hours or the type of food you serve, consider changing some of the practices for your employees. Encourage everyone to drink plenty of water (and actively offer it to them), allow frequent breaks and encourage them to be in shaded, cool areas. Also considering allowing your team to use the walk-in as a multi-purpose area for your kitchen staff and servers that are extremely hot. Just a few minutes in that large, cool space can make a big difference in how they feel.
It can also be a good idea to adjust uniforms or the dress code for the summer. No one is going to be comfortable wearing a long-sleeved button-up shirt and dress pants. No matter the style of your restaurant, try to accommodate your workers by allowing them to dress in lightweight clothing and short sleeves. It might not seem like a big deal, but it can be a big help that won’t weigh them down or cause their temperatures to rise even more.
Educate Your Staff
It’s important that your staff feels heard, understood, and valued. If they know you’re trying to protect them from extreme heat, they’ll be more likely to take those practices seriously.
So, consider holding a few training/educational sessions on how to stay safe from high temperatures, especially during a heat wave.
Having a heat safety program in place will teach your employees the best practices for staying cool and keeping themselves safe. They should understand some of the common symptoms of heat exhaustion, including:
Dizziness
Lightheadedness
Weakness
Nausea
They should also know to inform co-workers when they aren’t feeling well or when they need to take a break. It’s also important to educate your staff on the importance of sun protection. You can do that with a new dress code, as mentioned above, but encourage sunscreen application as well. It only takes one bad sunburn to cause skin cancer. The more aware your employees are of this danger, the more likely they’ll be to take it seriously.
Long days in excessive heat can also add a lot of stress to your staff. In addition to educating everyone on how to stay safe from the heat, make mental wellness a priority, as when employee mental health suffers, so does your business. Things like changes in productivity, or difficulty concentrating can be signs that an employee’s mental health is suffering due to stress. When everyone is able to recognize those signs, as well, you’ll foster an environment of both physical and mental wellness that your employees will appreciate.
Unfortunately, there’s no end in sight to rising temperatures. You might not be able to change the forecast, but you can protect your staff from extreme heat. Keep these ideas in mind and make changes as necessary to keep your restaurant employees cool, happy, and healthy.
