Work Locations and 

Vocations That Require 

Hydration Year-Round 
Work Locations and Vocations 

That Require Hydration 

Year-Round 

No matter what line of work you’re in or where your job takes place, hydration 

is important. 

In most cases, it’s a simple matter of making sure you have water or an 

electrolyte beverage on hand and take frequent sips throughout the day. In 

some roles and settings, however, hydration poses a significant challenge as 

well as a safety concern, and not just in the summer. 

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Dry Climates 

This one is probably the most 

obvious. When the temperature 

gets high and the air is dry, the 

environment is working against 

you and trying to claim your body’s 

moisture. Your sweat evaporates 

more quickly and some moisture is 

lost through respiration as you work. 

The higher the heat, the faster the 

water loss. The effect is even more pronounced when you’re working hard. 

If it’s hot and dry, you need to have a good source of (preferably) cool water 

available. 

It’s not just hot weather, either. Even in colder months, parched air will 

dehydrate workers simply because of moisture diffusion across a gradient – 

dry air wants to suck up all the water it can from any source, including you. 

So, even if the weather is cool, you need to make an extra effort to stay 

hydrated when the air is dry. 

Learn more in Hydration in the Workplace Is Not Just a Summer Issue 

Hot and Humid Climates 

Hydration is challenging when there’s 

too much moisture in the air, too. You 

might overheat in hot, muggy weather, 

but its for a slightly different reason. 

Your body uses sweat to reduce body 

heat. When the sweat evaporates from 

your body, it cools your skin. When 
 

the air is very humid, though, your sweat won’t evaporate as much. At 100% 

humidity, in fact, water won’t evaporate at all. Essentially, the air is holding all 

the water it can and it doesn’t have the capacity to take on more, so your sweat 

can’t perform its cooling function. 

In very humid weather, you might continue to sweat, but it won’t cool you 

down. It will just progressively dehydrate you. 

Heat Stress: Indoors vs. Outdoors. 

Oil, Gas, or Chemical Plants 

You won’t step foot on an oil rig or a gas plant without first donning the layers 

of protective equipment standard for field workers. In some applications, 

there is an increased risk for flammable atmospheres that make fire-resistant 

coveralls necessary, as well as gloves, boots, hardhats, glasses, and other gear. 

All these layers make for a very warm 

ensemble. On a hot day, it doesn’t 

take much to overheat wearing all 

this stuff. Add to the fact that a lot 

of tasks on rigs and plants involve a 

lot of stairs, hot piping and vessels, 

and physically demanding work. All 

of this is a recipe for dehydration. 

A Sweaty Situation: PPE, Hydration, and How to Manage Both 
 

Roofing 

There are two factors that make hydration challenging for roofers: there’s 

typically no shade in their working areas and the materials they use emit 

radiant heat. 

Roofers toil away directly under the sun and usually on dark-colored surfaces. 

Those surfaces absorb short-wave solar radiation (visible light) and re-radiate 

it as longer wave infrared radiation (heat). 

For this reason, roofs can become a great deal hotter than the ambient air 

temperature and create a layer of extra hot air. It’s even worse when roofers 

are working with roofing tar, which usually has to be warmed before applying. 

Roofers are often really mindful of the cargo they carry up. They try to minimize 

the amount of stuff they have to carry up and down the ladder throughout 

the work day. Not only so they can have a lighter load and make fewer trips, 

but also to eliminate as many tripping hazards and as much clutter as they 

can. Unfortunately, water bottles and electrolyte drinks often don’t make the 

cut. They’re sometimes left in the truck instead of being close at hand. 

Road Work 

In some colder regions, road work 

tapers off to nearly zero in the winter 

months, but in warmer places it can 

go on throughout the year. Staying 

hydrated while doing this kind of work 

can be a challenge because of all the 

heat involved in the work processes. 
Asphalt pavers work with material that is spread at a high temperature (above 

550°F or 300oC). Heat rising off the spread mixture creates a warm microclimate around the machinery where workers have to perform their tasks. 

Combine that with the high-visibility safety apparel that is standard for the 

job and you can have some sweltering conditions. 

Foundries 

A 2016 study analyzing heat stress in some extreme work environments 

found that the sampled iron foundries had a mean ambient temperature of 

43.4oC (110oF). That’s an excessively hot environment on its own, not even 

accounting the hours of hard work employees have to put in. 

Heat hazards around furnaces and molds require substantial PPE to be 

donned at all times. Taken with the high ambient temperature, it gives us a 

high potential for dehydration and heat stress. 

Welding 

In terms of the heat factors, welding 

ticks all the boxes: heavy PPE, multiple 

heat sources, confined spaces, and 

environmental heat. 

Welders have to work under some 

of the most extreme conditions out 

there. They might find themselves in a 

tiny, cramped space, suspended on the 

side of a structure, or even deep under water. If cargo economy is important 

for roofers, it is doubly so for welders, so they might not always have a drink 

handy. Their chances for a water break can be few and far between, so they’ll 

need extra planning to prevent heat stress. 
See It’s Not Just Gloves: What You Need to Know About Welding Apparel for related 

reading 

Commercial Kitchens 

“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of 

the kitchen” doesn’t just refer to the 

pressure and stress chefs and cooks 

feel while they’re working. Kitchens 

can get extremely hot at any time 

of the year, and anyone who works 

in one has to learn to cope with the 

heat. 

Water is usually readily available to kitchen workers, but hydration can still be 

overlooked. The most extreme example is probably food trucks. They often 

only have a small electric fan to cool them down, very few breaks during a 

shift, and hot appliances surrounding them. 

When customers are constantly lining up, cooks and chefs need to consciously 

make time to replenish fluids and stay on top of hydration.