Employers urged to take extra heat wave precautions

EDMONTON Edmonton businesses and residents are doing whatever they can to cope with the current heat wave blazing through the city.

The Edmonton Blatchford mercury hit 34.3 C at 4 p.m. Thursday, making it the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures expected to hover around 34 C into the evening.

The record-breaking heat forced one restaurant to remove some items off its menu in order to stay as cool as possible.

Northern Chicken on 124 Street in Westmount opted to keep their convection oven turned off after temperatures in the kitchen spiked to 41 C on Wednesday.

“We figured we’d shut down the biggest heat-producing thing this morning, and take the items that come out of the oven off the menu completely for the day,” co-owner Matt Phillips said.

This included the restaurant’s confit chicken leg dish, which Phillips said was unfortunate because it is the only gluten-free option on the menu. But the sweltering heat was starting to become “worrisome” for the crew, who Phillips said is his main priority.

“I’d rather have my staff be a little bit more comfortable than be put in danger for something like that,” he added. “We’ve been buying Gatorade and soaking cloths with ice water to put on their necks.”

During the modified lunch rush, the heat conditions were more manageable with the temperature reaching 36 C, Phillips said.

Since opening in November 2016, Phillips said this latest heat wave is the hottest he can remember and both he and his staff are looking forward to a cool down.

“Hopefully the 21 on Saturday is correct.”

“We always hear concerns when it comes to extreme temperatures,” said Terry Parker, executive director of Building Trades of Alberta, which looks after 75,000 trade workers in the province.

“We’re telling our members out there to take all the necessary precautions.”