Lighter Garments for Menopausal Staff
Hi all, a member of our production team is going through a time of life that comes to all women of a certain age and is finding the garments supplied by our laundry company impossible to wear as anything heavier than a t-shirt is causing her to have hot flushes to the point where she's worried she'll pass out.
Curious as to how others on here work around this. I've spoken to our laundry company who've basically said there's nothing we can do to help her as there are no food grade garments that are any lighter out there. But surely there has to be something?
I've come across some disposable woven coats online which look pretty lightweight but am worried about contamination risk as they don't look like it'll take much to tear them, but am open to feedback from anyone who uses them.
For context, we are a relatively low-risk facility that peels, dices and vacuum seals non-RTC vegetables and we are non-GFSI, only working to SALSA accreditation scheme.
TIA
Andy
Hmmmm, that sounds unpleasant! Is your environment especially warm?
Could she maybe wear one of those cooling neckerchiefs? There are even cooling shirts she could order.
What is the current uniform?
Could they provide a scrub shirt like nurses wear? Lightweight, no buttons, snaps or zips.....
"anything heavier than a t-shirt is causing her to have hot flushes..."
Uh, it's not the shirt causing the hot flashes, lol.
We've had plenty of ladies go through the pause since I've been here. Nothing like this was ever mentioned. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but is a shirt change honestly going to change anything? That sounds strange to me.... How thick are your supplied garments? Long or short sleeve?
I'd do like Setenta said and offer other options to cool down, but the uni is mandatory. Sorry. We let employees know when they're hired the mandatory items that go along with working here, and they agree if they can't meet those, they forfeit their employment.
"anything heavier than a t-shirt is causing her to have hot flushes..."
Uh, it's not the shirt causing the hot flashes, lol.
Highly insensitive MDale nor is it a laughing matter for some of us Until you've found yourself running for the door in the middle of a snow storm because the hot flash is so overwhelming, your voice on the matter is like a cow's opinion
Yeah, well I figured that sentiment would be out there. I wasn't laughing at menopause, I was laughing at the idea that changing the weight of a t shirt will affect it. (Unfortunately I'm not in the sensitive business Scampi. I'm in the food business, and I won't break rules so peoples feelings aren't hurt.)
Menopause has been around age eternal obviously. At my age, I've seen plenty of ladies deal with it. The lady who trained me went through it while I was here. She didn't need to ditch her uniform..... Nor did my mother. Nor my aunts. Nor did any other professional woman I know, and I've been lucky enough to have known, and still know, many.
The entire premise is redic, sorry not sorry.
And your insults I find hilarious. If you can't have a professional discussion without tossing insults around, it says all I need to know. Pretty standard for you on here though, and it affects me: Not at all.....
I would recommend cooling neckerchiefs, headband, or wristbands. The neckerchief can likely be tucked under her shirt. The headband should be able to be covered by a hairnet. If her wrists are covered by sleeves and/or gloves, she could use the cooling wristbands. Applying something cool or cold to areas where the veins are closest to the surface of the skin (wrist, neck, etc.) is the fastest way to cool a person down.
Are you able to provide a fan in her work area? As long as it's blowing at her and not toward exposed food, it may be ok (you'll have to do a risk analysis).
You can also approach this like you may approach all employees during hot summer months: give her permission to go to the break room, first aid room, etc. to cool down when the hot flashes occur. She can try drinking cold water, cooling off in front of a fan, apply an ice pack, etc. for 5 minutes before returning to work. As long as her supervisor is made aware and she's not abusing it, it shouldn't be a problem I think. If that doesn't work out for her, and the hot flashes are truly unbearable, you can try reassigning her to a different work area that is either cooler or doesn't require the uniform smock to be worn.
I'm on meds that make me overheat easily, plus I'm someone who normally runs at a high temp (aka, a furnace person), so I feel for her. When the AC units would go out at a place I worked at, I'd wear a sports bra and bring a couple of those flexible first aid cooling packs to work to shove in my bra. I'd also bring a mist bottle/fan combo and spray myself a bit before walking into our cooler--to check the temperature, of course... We would also allow production personnel to wear "workout leggings/joggers" in the summer since they are sportswear designed to wick away sweat and heat. So...those are also ideas, but I'm not sure how practical they would be in your operation.
Making cooling equipment available sounds like a great idea.
You can also review if her position needs to be adjusted.
Perhaps there is a role available for her that does not lead to hot flushes.
So perhaps less physical activity, a job in a cooler environment (I guess you don't have cold storage) or perhaps a (temporary) transfer to a less demanding office position.
I would also advice that she speaks to her doctor, if she hadn't already.
I really like the scrubs idea mentioned above. Uniform suppliers should have these available, and hard to argue they're unsafe in a food operation when they're made for hygienic medical environments. Though once you provide her a set for her comfort, especially if your warehouse is a warmer environment, expect some major pushback from other employees wanting lighter garments too...
Do you have any warehousing roles that are subject to different clothing requirements? For example, if she was in shipping/receiving, she may not need to wear the smocks you're currently using and could wear her own clothing (subject to basic GMP requirements).
Not wanting to be insensitive but definitely apply some logic to this. What have you done in the past? Has there been any special considerations given to any other employees for this specific issue. If a person were to come to you with a similar issue and not specifically state it was menopause, what accommodations would you make? Again, while I sympathize, I try to draw a line between reasonable and an issue of mother nature. For instance, I have several employees with fairly severe hay fever but I can't (and won't) install a whole building 10 micron filtering system, it just isn't feasible or cost effective even though it would definitely ease their symptoms. If it is as simple as a cooling towel, it's nothing I don't already do for all employees so obviously no problem, beyond that, I would lean on her to bring solutions that are appropriate to her job and let you decide if you can accommodate her requests.
Outside of work, I'm as sympathetic as you'll find.
At work, I'm the hammer on the anvil..... I am one of two people at this facility who can go to jail if things aren't done right and someone gets majorly sick or, God forbid, dies. I don't friggin play. Leave your feelings at the door with me at work.
Like my new avatar?!?!?! :-)
Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
Outside of work, I'm as sympathetic as you'll find.
At work, I'm the hammer on the anvil..... I am one of two people at this facility who can go to jail if things aren't done right and someone gets majorly sick or, God forbid, dies. I don't friggin play. Leave your feelings at the door with me at work.
Like my new avatar?!?!?! :-)
Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
this is rude, similarly your old ways of thinking (yeah my mum, auntie etc so I won`t do anything in this matter) .. this is SAD.
sometimes is worth to change something, this won`t change the world for everybody but it will change the entire world for one person.
going back to the topic, most of our white coats are made of 80% of polyester and 20% of cotton. Next to ovens (our factory) during summer we can hit up to 45-50C, after a few meetings we decided to buy lightweight 100% cotton coats. Maybe something like this, cotton is breathable.
I won't break the rules for one person. Period. You work here, you wear the same uniform everyone else does. That's all I said. "old ways of thinking" made me laugh though, that's funny. Compared to today's way of thinking (everyone is coddled and handed a trophy), I think I'll wear that as a badge of honor....so thanks for that.