Brr. Here comes winter.

Whether it's due to global warming or La Nina, the start of cold weather, at least in much of the Lower Peninsula, seems to be getting later every year.

This year we almost got into the middle of January before it got to the point of where Shakespeare may have said, 'tis bitter cold and I'm freezing my (butt) off."

Construction workers toiling without the benefit of a roof and walls these days may be saying something similar. To help them out, OSHA has provided a few tips and reminders so that the cold won't be so dangerous.

"Wearing the right clothing is the most important step a person can take to fight the cold's harmful effects, and ultimately avoid cold-related injuries," added OSHA Administrator Charles N. Jeffress. "Employers can take added steps to help protect their workers by having employees come out of the cold for periods of time, providing additional heat sources, and setting up systems to check more frequently on people working in the cold."

During cold weather about 60 percent of a person's body fuel is used to heat the body. When exposed to frigid temperatures, particularly for extended periods of time, a person will tire easily, and exposed skin will cool rapidly. This is prime breeding ground for the dangerous effects of the cold - hypothermia and frostbite. Combine cold temperatures with water, including actual immersion, and ailments like trench foot become another potentially serious problem.

According to OSHA, major risk factors for cold-related stress include:

• Wearing inadequate or wet clothing.
• Certain drugs or medications such as alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and medication, which inhibit the body's response to the cold or impairs judgment.
• Having a cold or certain diseases, such as diabetes, heart, vascular, and thyroid problems, may make a person more susceptible to the winter elements.
• Being a male increases a person's risk to cold-related stresses. Men experience far greater death rates due to cold exposure than women, perhaps due to inherent risk-taking activities, body-fat composition or other physiological differences.
• Becoming exhausted or immobilized, especially due to injury or entrapment, may speed up the effects of cold weather.
• Aging--the elderly are more vulnerable to the effects of harsh winter weather.

Frostbite occurs when the skin tissue actually freezes, causing ice crystals to form between cells and draw water from them, which leads to cellular dehydration. Although this typically occurs at temperatures below 30ºF, wind chill effects can cause frostbite at above-freezing temperatures.

General hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls to a level where normal muscular and cerebral functions are impaired. While hypothermia is generally associated with freezing temperatures, it may occur in any climate where a person's body temperature falls below normal Trench Foot is caused by long, continuous exposure to a wet, cold environment, or actual immersion in water. Symptoms include a tingling and/or itching sensation, burning, pain, and swelling, sometimes forming blisters in more extreme cases.

Common sense will tell most people to get themselves or victims of the above ailments into a warm area. But recognizing the symptoms is the key.

Initial effects of frostbite include uncomfortable sensations of coldness; tingling, stinging or aching feeling of the exposed area followed by numbness. Ears, fingers, toes, cheeks, and noses are primarily affected.

Frostbitten areas appear white and cold to the touch. The appearance of frostbite varies depending on whether re-warming has occurred. Deeper frostbite involves freezing of deeper tissues (muscles, tendons, etc.) causing exposed areas to become numb, painless, hard to the touch.

The first symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, an inability to do complex motor functions, lethargy, and mild confusion, and occur as the core body temperature decreases to around 95ºF.

As body temperature continue to fall, hypothermia becomes more severe. The individual falls into a state of dazed consciousness, failing to complete even simple motor functions. The victim's speech becomes slurred and his or her behavior may become irrational.

The most severe state of hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls below 90ºF

Wearing personal protective clothing is perhaps the most important step in fighting the elements. Wear at least three layers of clothing, including an outer layer to break the wind and allow some ventilation, a middle layer of wool or synthetic fabric to absorb sweat and retain insulation in a damp environment, and an inner layer of cotton or synthetic weave to allow ventilation

Pay special attention to protecting feet, hands, face and head. Up to 40 percent of body heat can be lost when the head is exposed.