Cold Stress & PPE: When Safety Gear Fights Back

It is January. It is freezing. Your crew is bundled up. That’s good for preventing hypothermia, but it introduces a new set of subtle hazards. Sometimes, the gear that protects us from the cold compromises the gear that protects us from everything else.

The "Michelin Man" effect—too many layers reducing mobility and visibility—is a real safety risk.

The Fall Protection Problem

This is the most critical conflict. A fall protection harness is designed to fit snugly against the body. If a worker wears a heavy parka under their harness, the harness cannot work correctly. In a fall, the puffy coat compresses, leaving inches of slack in the straps. That slack can cause serious injury during the arrest, or even allow the worker to slip out of the harness.

The Rule: The harness goes on first, or over a thin thermal layer. The heavy coat goes over the harness (with a pass-through hole for the D-ring) or you use a specific harness-compatible jacket. If you can fit a fist between the strap and the chest, it’s too loose.

The Fog War

Safety glasses and cold weather are sworn enemies. A worker walks from a 10°F loading dock into a 70°F warehouse, and their glasses instantly blind them with fog. What do they do? They take them off. Now they are walking through a high-hazard zone with zero eye protection.

Anti-fog coatings help, but they aren't magic.

• Best Practice: Provide a cleaning station with anti-fog wipes at every door.
• Better: Switch to eyewear with high-grade anti-fog dipping (European standard ratings are often better).
• Best: Accept that acclimatization takes a minute. Instruct workers to stop inside the door in a safe zone until their glasses clear, rather than walking while blind.

Gloves vs. Dexterity

Thick insulated gloves keep fingers warm, but they destroy tactile feedback. A mechanic trying to thread a nut while wearing ski gloves will eventually take the gloves off to "just get it done." Now they have bare skin on sub-zero metal—a frostbite risk.

Layering is the solution. Use a thin, high-dexterity cut-resistant liner glove under a warmer, looser outer mitten or glove. When they need dexterity, they slip off the outer layer but keep the liner on. They are never fully bare-handed.

Traction on the Feet

Winter boots have aggressive tread for snow, but that same tread can be slippery on smooth concrete floors once the snow melts in the treads. The "transition zone"—the first 20 feet inside a door—is where the falls happen.

Use aggressively textured mats in these zones to pull the moisture off the boots. And consider "transition spikes"—traction aids that flip over. Spikes outside on ice, flip them up to rubber inside on concrete. Walking on steel spikes on smooth concrete is like walking on ice skates.

Stay warm, but stay smart. Don't let the cure for the cold become the cause of the injury.

Next step: Check out the Worksafely SMB "Winter PPE Compatibility Matrix" to see which harnesses work with which jackets.