Heat wave a struggle for some outdoor workers

Outdoor workers battle heat For Calgary’s outdoor workers, preparing for extreme heat is in the job description. Tyson Fedor reports.

Calgary — Although the temperature has many in Calgary looking to cool off, some people are tasked with working through the heat to complete jobs.

“You can’t just shut her down sadly,” said Corey Clark with Bradbosh Landscaping.

“As much as it would be ideal, you have deadlines, you have customers to please.”

Bradbosh Landscaping and Snow removal works through all weather conditions, including scorching temperatures in the 30s.

“We try to take frequent breaks, and I’m hard on the boys for keeping hydrated,” said Clark.

Clark adds his workers are generally in residential areas and early starts to beat the heat can be tough.

“It’s not always easy,” he said.

“Luckily we have a bit of shade down here, but we don’t get too much shade. You still have to be respectful working out in the field, you can’t have tops off.”

For roofers, the climbing temperatures are unforgiving.

“It’s about 10 degrees hotter, on there, especially when you’re working on a black roof,” said Brayden Jessen with Airdrie Roofing Ltd.

“It just seems that when you’re two storeys up, it's hot.”

Jessen adds that some outdoor workers can get a small reprieve from the heat, but when it comes to roofing, there is nowhere to hide.

“Being a roofer, we’re quite exposed all the time, other trades like siding you can kind of work around the sun a little bit,” he said.

Calgary is still under a heat warning. Temperatures have eclipsed 30 C the last few days and a daytime high of 29 C is expected Wednesday.

And with the dog days of summer upon us, energy consumption is also seeing a push, as many rely on fans and air conditioners to cool down.

Enmax says the highest recorded summer day for energy consumption in Calgary was Aug. 10 2018, when 1692 megawatts of electricity was used.

On Tuesday, 1619 megawatts of electricity was used.