HVLS Fans Help Prevent Heat Stress

Hot summer days sound great if you’re planning a cookout or a day at the beach. Unfortunately, it’s not so welcoming to the hard-working folks who spend their days working in hot environments. Many employees are put at risk for a variety of heat-related illnesses, especially in the extreme heat of the summer months. HVLS industrial fans are a simple solution to help keep people cool while working in hot environments.

Hidden Costs of Heat Stress

Comfort isn’t the only thing sacrificed when employees are exposed to excessive heat. Fogged-up safety glasses, sweaty palms, dizziness and reduced mental capacity resulting from heat stress can all lead to accidents on the job, with potentially tragic consequences.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has documented alarming trends in occupational heat exposure illnesses and accidents:

• Heat-related illnesses are 7x more likely on days when temps exceed 90°F.
• Just a 2% loss in body fluid can reduce mental alertness, while a 4% loss causes a 23% drop in reaction time. (Gopinathan PM, Pichan G, Sharma VM).
• OSHA’s Safety Pays calculator estimates that one serious heat-related incident can cost a company up to $50,000.

This isn’t just about comfort, it’s about compliance, liability, and doing right by your people.

How HVLS Fans Help Prevent Heat Stress

Designed for large-scale environments, HVLS fans work in tandem with AC systems to improve airflow distribution and boost overall cooling performance. Their massive size and low speed allow them to circulate air across wide areas, creating a cooling effect that workers can actually feel. This can help control environmental factors, like air temperature, air flow and humidity, which can be adjusted to help the human body maintain a normal temperature and control heat stress.

For indoor work environments, one recommendation from OSHA is to increase ventilation and use fans to increase air speed directly over workers. This will help improve the heat exchange between skin surface and the air (unless the air temperature is higher than the skin temperature). OSHA also recommends keeping fans on a Preventative Maintenance Program so there is no downtime when they are needed most.

• Evaporative cooling effect: HVLS fans can drop the effective temperature by 7–11°F.
• Airflow coverage: Each fan can move air across 3100 sq. ft., reaching up to 85-100 feet in all directions.
• Sweating Slab Syndrome mitigation: HVLS fans reduce ceiling-to-floor temperature differences and keep air moving, helping prevent condensation from settling on concrete floors. This increased air circulation accelerates surface evaporation and disrupts the conditions that lead to slippery, unsafe floors.

The ROI of Staying Cool

Rite-Hite HVLS fans can help prevent heat stress and create a safer working environment. By investing in HVLS fans, you’re not just keeping your team cool, you’re delivering long-term value by improving worker safety, operational efficiency, and energy savings.

• Lower Energy Use: HVLS fans can contribute to annual energy savings around 20-30% with reports that our HVLS fans save a facility about 4% on their electric bill for every degree they lower a building’s effective temperature in the summer.
• Boost Productivity: With air speeds of just 2-3 miles per hour (3-5 km/h), an HVLS fan can affect a 7 to 11 (4-6 °C) degree drop in temperature, boosting employee comfort and output.
• Reduce Costs: HVLS fans can help you conserve energy year-round and save money with a typical payback period of 6 months to 2 years.
• Reduce Turnover: Workers are more likely to stay in a safe, comfortable environment – especially when employers take visible steps to support their well-being.
• Stay OSHA Compliant: Under OSHA’s General Duty Clause, employers must maintain a workplace free of hazards likely to cause serious harm, including heat-related risks.

Ready to Cool Down Your Facility?

Schedule your free airflow consultation today. Your local Rite-Hite representative can identify factors to help make valuable airflow improvements in your facility.

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