Workers cope with hot summer weather

” It feels hotter in the blazing sun, but yeah, it’s hot,” Josh Brown, an employee with Mountain Sky Landscaping, said as the temperatures rose in Bend Tuesday.

‘Hot’ might be an understatement, especially when your office is outside.

“We go through a safety training to make sure the crew is looking out for themselves and looking out for each other, to make sure they are identifying signs of heat stroke and heat stress,” Brown said.

When temperatures start to blaze, hydration is key.

“On a day like this, it’s every five minutes, we are stopping, having water, filling up and going back to work,” Brown said.

The crew with Mountain Sky is just one of many having to brave sizzling temperatures to make a living.

They might be out of the sun, but inside food carts, the deep fryers and hot grills push temperatures soaring into the triple digits.

“During the peak of the day, it’s not too friendly in here, but we deal with it pretty good,” said one employee with Real Food Street Bistro in Bend.

Working in the heat can be deadly. According to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, heat kills more people than all other natural disasters. Some 1,500 lives are taken in heat-related incidents every year.

Just another reason for workers to keep that water close and stay safe.

“We stop, hit the shade, pound the water and go back to work,” Brown said.