Cape Girardeau, MO Alliance Water crew thinks safety in hot temps

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - With temperatures in the 90's and the heat index in the 100's, you can say it's pretty hot outside.

For those that have to work outside in this heat, it can be dangerous.

"Each one of the crew need to watch after the other one to make sure that their not getting overheated," Alliance Water Distribution Superintendent Mark Skinner said. "And we don't want anybody to get sick or overheated so everybody looks out for everybody."

We caught up with the crew from Alliance Water in Cape Girardeau on Main Street on Wednesday, July 12. They were repairing valves in the roadway.

Safety was the number one priority for these workers while working out in this heat. That includes keeping hydrated and rotating shifts if they need to.

"Everything down that we have to do today is all labor intensive," Skinner said. "Everything is handwork today. A lot of lifting and bending and down in that hole, there's no air."

Skinner said they try to do whatever they can to keep cool. However, the asphalt and the location of where they are working doesn't help.

"It's hot! We don't have a lot of breeze down here amongst the buildings," Skinner added. "It's plenty warm and that's why we started early."

This crew anticipates being finished with their portion of repairs on this project Wednesday. However, there are more outside jobs already lined up and the heat is not going away anytime soon.

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