As the temperate days of spring quickly slide into the hot days of summer this year, businesses all over Connecticut are feeling the heat.
While offices see an increase in electricity costs from air conditioning and dress codes often ease, those companies whose primary business is outdoors face a more real threat.
Heat stroke, dehydration, sunburn and exhaustion can imperil a company’s employees and production if they have to spend extended periods outside; and Connecticut business do what they can do avoid the wrong side of the sun.
“It is really just a lot of common sense stuff,” said Dave Newman, director of field support for franchisor Lawn Doctor, which has 17 locations and 50 employees in Connecticut.
Lawn Doctor provides water on all its trucks to employees working outside and makes sure they wear breezy, appropriate clothing to keep them as cool as possible, Newman said.
Franchisor Guier Fence, which opened a Ridgefield location in June, trains all its employees on proper safety in the sun, and what the symptoms are for heat exhaustion.
Guier Fence, whose other locations include much hotter places such as Texas, tends to run into problems with new employees who overexert themselves and don’t listen to their bodies, said Lea Bailes, president of Guier Fence.
“We definitely try to minimize those issues,” Bailes said. “Heat does slow down production a little bit.”
We Do Lines, a Ridgefield franchisor specializing in painting pavement for parking lots, has a policy to not send out one-man crews in case safety issues arise, not only from the heat but from cars that whiz around workers.
“Our business heavily involves a lot of safety precautions,” said Chris Couri, CEO, president and co-founder of We Do Lines.
Employees at We Do Lines are required to use sunblock and avoid wearing dark colors, said Bob Russo, the Connecticut franchisee of We Do Lines.
And, of course, the most obvious move to avoid problems in the summer heat is to avoid the summer heat when possible.
Employees at Lawn Doctor, Guier Fence and We Do Lines all are required to take frequent breaks either by going indoors or sitting in air-conditioned trucks. The companies try to schedule work in the early morning, the later afternoon or at night — all steps to avoid the day at its hottest.
In Connecticut, 29 of the 30 days in June have had temperatures of 93 degrees or more at one point or another. The hottest recorded temperature in Connecticut history came in July 1975 with thermometers touching 102 degrees.
This New England summer may be hotter or cooler than previous summers, said Dave Unger, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center.
The temperature will be similar to the average for the past 30 years with the hottest days coming in July and August, said Unger. More rain is likely, though. “The chances of wet conditions are a little bit higher than they were in the 1970s and 1980s,” Unger said.
Despite its propensity for hot days, summer is the best time for many outdoor businesses to get the bulk of their revenues.
Demand for fences takes a serious drop in the winter, Bailes said. Guier Fence can install fences in certain winter condition, but summer is a much better time for business.
Lawns need special care in the summer, Newman said. Lawn Doctor does a lot of fertilizing, weed and pest control in its business, and there’s always a need for that in the summer.
When the temperatures rise too much, employees at Lawn Doctor have to strike a careful balance on how frequently they treat lawns, as excessive walking causes more damage in the summer, Newman said.
Lawn Doctor developed special equipment so its employees can get their jobs done quicker and get back into a cool truck.
“We are not going to do any good for our guys or for the lawns if we are out working too much in the heat,” Newman said.
We Do Lines, which was founded in 2008 and franchised in October 2009, is in its second summer. The company can do some non-summer, indoor work such as parking garages and warehouses; but painting pavement is largely a seasonal activity in the warmer months.
“As a start-up business, we have to make sure we are taking care of our customers and are taking care of our employees,” Russo said.
