“Unfortunately yes. Operating several dry-off and curing ovens in our facility, combined with daytime highs of 40+ degrees would have been unbearable, unfair and would pose a definite health concern to our employees, and would also have negatively impacted our equipment and raw materials use. based on the nature of our work, and because of the heat that is normally generated by our process, the summer months are always most challenging to our operation. This year, the month of July has been abnormally cruel with high temperatures. Health and safety issues are always a major concern and consideration at our company, so instead of trying to work our way through and combat the elements, we decided as a group to work overnight as an alternative. Normally, our operation runs two shifts, and on several occasions in July, we abbreviated our shifts and worked overnight instead of days to offset the temperatures and still maintain an on-time delivery schedule suitable to our customer’s needs.”
-Joseph Manzoli, president, Colourfast Custom Coatings Ltd., Concord, Ont.
“We lost half of a shift during the heat wave.”
-Peter Alden, co-owner, Wessex Precision Machining, Ayr, Ont.
“We keep an ample supply of freezies and a Gatorade mix that helped keep our employees [hydrated]. This year we never had anyone go home early or sick. The one problem that we did have was keeping our equipment running. We just couldn’t keep the machines cool enough and they would shut down from time to time.”
-Larry Stuyt, president, ontario Laser Cutting, Tillsonburg, Ont.
“No. We have air conditioning. It is a necessity with the parts we make.”
-Jason Bannerman, president, Xakt Komponents, Brampton, ON
“We have only lost minimal time due to heat stress. Three years ago we installed a large air conditioning unit to allow us to maintain a closed shop for our Controlled Goods certification. Our burning and saw operations are subject to the heat stress but we shift the hours of work to avoid the worst heat of the day.”
-George Barnes, president, Foldens Machine Works, Tillsonburg, Ont.
“This year we have not lost any work hours due to heat and humidity. We have in the past lost time due to heat … in preparation of heat waves we usually adjust our hours to start earlier in the morning and finish earlier in the afternoon or even close down at noon.”
-Marco Gagnon, co-owner, Gagnon Ornamental Works, Grand Falls, New Brunswick
“We did not lose any hours due to heat, but it was a pain in the ass.”
-Rob Muru, president, A-Line Tool, Toronto, Ont.
“No. We didn’t get a summer yet. It’s been quite cool this year.”
-Renny Husada, vice-president, Yess Products, Surrey, BC
“We did not close but did provide more breaks during the intense heat as well as Popsicles at breaks.”
-Ted Squires, president, TFI Aerospace, Orangeville, Ont.
“No. We switched our hours of work to end early on hot weeks ex: 5am-1pm.”
-Remi Groulx, owner, Groulx Machining, Astorville, Ont.
