Cold weather conditions do not stop utility workers from working outside.
While winter weather continues in West Central Ohio, you will still find utility crews on the road, clearing snow, replacing water lines, and more.
At the Ohio Department of Transportation District 1 garage, crews are cleaning off trucks after traveling on roads during harsh weather conditions.
Challenges have arisen when temperatures reach low digits.
"With being outside the trucks get cold, so if you hit something with your plow, with the plow being cold, it can break easier," said Bryce Clark, a Highway Technician with ODOT. "Your salt freezes a lot easier."
From a city perspective, the Lima Utilities Department also works around the clock, even in harsh cold weather.
"The biggest challenge is just the colder that it is, the more leaks and breaks we tend to see," said Emily Kerber, Operations Manager at the Lima Utility Department. "It doesn't matter how cold it is, they have to be out there. It's not like we are going to tell you to wait until tomorrow or wait until next week and we'll get to you... if you call us today, we will get to you today."
Measures are currently in place to ensure no harm will come to utility workers when they are out on a call, such as providing insulated clothing, offering spare clothes in case someone gets wet, offering hot beverages, and rotating personnel to stay warm in a heated truck.
"We also have them watch for signs of hypothermia, whether or not guys are slowing down, their thought process is slowing down, and things like that so we can try to get them warmed up," said Larry Huber, Lima Utilities Field Service Supervisor.
Larry also said that city workers know that they are counted on when it comes to water main breaks and leaks in the city, regardless of the weather.
"We want to keep people and water having available to them," said Huber. "The weather doesn't make any difference, we have to be out there. Being out in the cold, that's just part of the job. The guys know it when they start and work through that."
