A cold room or a plate freezer is a different environment from the rest of the warehouse. Someone entering for the first time expects the cold; what they do not expect is how quickly hands lose their touch and how much the work slows.
What is said before entry
- The work to be done inside and the work and rest pattern the workplace has set.
- Gloves, footwear and outer layer.
- How the door opens from inside and how to call for help.
- What to do if unwell and whom to tell.
The regulations set no single minute limit for time in a cold room. The Turkish workplace-premises regulation requires protective measures where continuous work in very cold conditions is unavoidable (Annex 1, item 20); duration is written into the workplace instruction from the intensity of the work, the temperature and the clothing. Time inside is kept short on the first entry and extended as the worker adapts. CCOHS likewise advises giving new workers time to get used to the cold and the protective clothing.
Gloves, door and company
Latches, labels and pens are hard to handle in thick gloves. CCOHS advises gloves below 4 °C for light work and below -7 °C for moderate work where fine dexterity is not needed, and mittens below -17 °C. Paperwork therefore moves to the door and only physical work happens inside.
On the first entry the worker is not left alone; someone stays outside. CCOHS asks for constant observation or a buddy system for work at or below -12 °C. The worker opens the door from inside personally and explains the mechanism and the way to raise the alarm in their own words.
