Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine September 2024

HVACR NewsMagazine September 2024

Tech News

Gloves, eye protection, and hearing protection all within easy reach to assure usage and a designated place to put them up for the next time they are necessary. Where am I? Assessing this question can quite literally change your chances of avoiding or surviving an accident. Surveying the job before you begin, can give you an opportunity to make it home that evening. Stepping on drywall of an

staying in a cooler environment for several hours, while heat stroke will require medical attention. Heat stroke for an installer or tech will quite possibly end their career since the body may readjust its internal thermostat. In some regions in the south and southwest companies require hourly texts be returned just to be sure crews are responsive if working alone. An old technology that seems to rear its ugly head now and then is knob and tube wiring. While banned in most jurisdictions, it can be overlooked beneath insulation. The old fabric insulation on the wire becomes brittle and breaks away leaving bare conductors. This is a deadly combination when a technician or installer contacts the hidden wires. Wet with perspiration the circuit is easily completed resulting in cardiac arrest. A similar situation exists when j boxes and open wire connections are present. Anytime a technician or installer thinks he/she feels that familiar tingle, a quick reading from all equipment and duct to a ground is a necessary step to avoid an injury or worse.

eight foot ceiling can rough you up pretty bad. But stepping on drywall over a thirty foot foyer is seldom just rough. Framing in homes from the 1950’s and prior (16” OC) and today’s (24” OC) make a great difference in survivability.

Just as working over space is important, remembering the space you are working in is just as important. No matter what part of the country you work in, attics can become dangerously hot with the right conditions. We sometimes are so intent upon getting the task completed, we lose sense of the time or the environment we are in. Most installers and techs in the HVAC trade have suffered heat

stress. That is the need to rest in a cooler environment and rehydrate for a short time. Heat exhaustion might call for