Beat Cold Stress

By Kim Vermaak 09 July 2014 At the moment, the weather is getting extremely cold in the morning. Personally I would like to be a bear and spend my time hibernating for the next few months, but alas, we have to work through these cold times and that can produce cold stress. Cold employees aren’t just uncomfortable, they are distracted. It is estimated that a drop in performance costs employers 10% more per hour, per employee. When our body’s temperature drops, we expend energy keeping ourselves warm, making less energy available for concentration, inspiration, and insight. In regions relatively unaccustomed to winter weather, like South Africa near freezing temperatures are considered factors for "cold stress." Whenever temperatures drop decidedly below normal and as wind speed increases, heat can more rapidly leave your body. These weather-related conditions may lead to serious health problems. Employees should avoid exposure to extremely cold temperatures when possible. When cold environments or temperatures cannot be avoided, employees should follow these recommendations to protect themselves from cold stress: Wear appropriate clothing. You can assist staff by providing a warm winter jacket. Although many businesses are concerned about cash flow, loss of productivity through staff who are suffering from cold is a factor that needs to be seriously considered. Cold stress is not just for outdoor workers. Many factories and warehouse environments are very cold. I can attest to this as in the very early weeks of if winter, I was in the new branding sections, which is in fact a warehouse and I just could not get out of there fast enough. The high ceilings and poor insulation make warehouses terrible to work in. Wear several layers of loose clothing. Layering provides better insulation. Tight clothing reduces blood circulation. Warm blood needs to be circulated to the extremities. So recommend to your staff to get a jacket that is one size bigger than they would normally take, so that they can put other layers under the jacket. When choosing clothing, be aware that some clothing may restrict movement resulting in a hazardous situation. Make sure to protect the ears, face, hands and feet in extremely cold weather. Boots should be waterproof and insulated. Wear a hat; it will keep your whole body warmer. (Hats reduce the amount of body heat that escapes from your head.) Beanies make an excellent form of protection for staff. Employers can also assist by: Scheduling cold jobs for the warmer part of the day. Reducing the physical demands of workers. Using relief workers or assign extra workers for long, demanding jobs. Providing warm liquids to workers. Giving each staff member a flask and having access to hot water, tea, soup etc. will go a long way in supporting them. But use a brand name like Isosteel that will remain hot for many hours. Warm, non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic drinks should be consumed frequently. Caffeine is a diuretic and causes dehydration, which is linked to heat loss. Provide warm areas for use during break periods. Warm-up and Stretch. Working in cold environments may increase the risk of back injuries and other musculoskeletal injuries. Workers should perform warm-up stretching exercises before handling heavy equipment and material. In the last stretch towards the end of winter, keep yourself and your employees warm to beat cold stress, improve morale and productivity. It just makes sense.

Top Ten Corporate Gifts

Have you ever wondered what everyone else is buying for corporate gifts. But it is hard to decide what to buy. Corporate gifts remain an excellent relationship building tool. Here are some of our top sellers. Here are our top ten gifts by sales Top Selling Corporate Gift 1: Stainless Steel Flasks Top Selling Corporate Gift 2: Moleskines Top Selling Corporate Gift 3: Rubberised pen Top Selling Corporate Gift 4: Knitted South African scarves Top Selling Corporate Gift 5: Urban Jacket Top Selling Corporate Gift 6:8 Gig USBs Top Selling Corporate Gift 7: Coffee Mugs Top Selling Corporate Gift 8: 150 g T-shirts Top Selling Corporate Gift 9: Glass Clocks Top Selling Corporate Gift 10: Leather Lugguage Tags Here is our teams top ten corporate gifts. Top Corporate Gift 1: Business Card Holder with flip top Top Corporate Gift 2: Triton Water Bottle with rubber grip. Top Corporate Gift 3: Corporate : Jotter note book with pen. Top Corporate Gift 4: Notebook with calculator. Corporate Gift 5: Indestrucktible sports bags Corporate Gift 6: Laptop Leather Bag Corporate Gift 7:USB Coffee Warmer Corporate Gift 8: Charm Key ring Corporate Gift 9: Tribal stripe drop handle folder Corporate Gift 10: Out of Africa Duffel Bag

Top Winter Corporate Gifts

Corporate gifts are a great way to boost morale in winter. Usually everyone starts going into sluggish mode at home. As a woman I strongly believe that we should just be hibernating or eating chocolate during winters, but as business woman productivity is important. So how do you motivate people over winter? Great winter gift ideas for staff and customers are: Winter Jackets as a Corporate Gift Jackets make wonderful winter corporate gifts. They are very seasonal and meet a very real need, so you know that this is a corporate gift that will be well received. If you want to give winter jacket to staff, then brand the jackets with a nice big embroidered logo in you full corporate colours. If you have a prestige brand then you can so the same for client gifts. However if your brand does not have the coca cola or Mercedes Benz status of a brand, you may want to consider doing a colour on colour logo so that it will increase the wear ability of the garment. A lot of people do not like to wear heavily branded apparel unless is a very popular retain brand Blankets as Corporate Gift While in hibernating mode, there is nothing better than to snuggle up with a dvd on the couch and a nice warm blanket to wrap around you. This is what makes blanket a great winter corporate gift. Not only is a blanket a great personal gift, it is also great to have them around when you have guest around for a winter braai, because although the days may be sunny, after 16H00, the sun starts to dip dramatically and with it the temperature, so it is nice for a hostess to hand out a few blankets when the conversation is good and the chill is an invasion. Flasks as a Corporate Gift To be honest, my personal preference will always be isosteel flasks. Are they more expensive, of course! We are talking German engineering and superior heat retentions. When my baby was very young I kept a flask of hot water next to my bed to heat up milk for baby. When it was normal promotional flask, at 01H00 it is cold, but if it is an Isosteel flask then the water is still hot. So if you are serious about quality there can be no other choice in flask. Coffee Mugs as a Corporate Gift For a low cost corporate gift with great impact, you simply cannot go wrong with a coffee mug as a corporate gift. It is great to wrap those chilly fingers around in winter. Plus you can get to fill them with all kinds of great goodies, like nougat or Lindt chocolates. A very nice touch is to have them personalised with your client’s name. Fluffy Bath Robes as a Corporate Gift While you may have a great hot water bottle or an electric blanket in your bed, depending how electricity wise you are, a great warm bath robe is a wonderful gift to lounge around in until it is time to get into bed. Thick Fluffy Bath Sheets as a Corporate Gift After a warm soak in the bath, no one likes getting out the bath, but a great thick bath sheet to wrap around you is a must in winter, so these make superb winter gifts as well. When it comes to winter corporate gifts, there are so many great options, the ones that I mentioned are just a few, so let your imagination go wild or contact us on info@belleregalo.co.za