Office hypothermia scourge claims another victim

A local man is being remembered as a good worker following his death this week from office hypothermia.

Bud Jones, an editor at the Chronicle Herald Journal, a semi-weekly newspaper in Middleton, Saskatchewan, was found at his desk three days after his family reported him missing. He was 54.

Sources say the temperature in the office is not sufficient to sustain human life.

“Everything seemed normal when I saw him on Monday,” said Janine Benice, the paper’s administrative assistant. “It was cold in the office like usual, but Bud was at his desk, trying to keep warm, which is what we do here.”

It was only after Mr. Jones failed to move for two more days that his colleagues became concerned.

“I thought he was catching up on some paperwork,” said Mr. Jones’ supervisor, Helen Peron.

Arts reporter Samantha MacEwan said she regretted not checking on her co-worker when he failed to reply to several routine emails. “I was going to go over there a few times but that would have meant taking off my blanket, and I just didn’t want to feel that blast of cold air.”

The grim reality set in when a member of the office janitorial staff asked Mr. Jones to lift his feet so she could mop under his desk. That’s when she noticed an icicle hanging from his nose.

Paramedics were called, but it was too late to revive the senior staffer.

Office workers, who spend their breaks in their vehicles in the parking lot with their heaters on, were said to be traumatized by the sight of Mr. Jones being wheeled out of the building in his office chair because his body was frozen and couldn’t be placed on a stretcher.

Typical of many offices, the Chronicle Herald Journal’s air conditioner runs full-out in the summer. As a new revenue source to make up for declining advertising sales, a storage room is rented to the local ice cream shop, Lick ‘n’ Shiver.

Meanwhile, colleagues praised Mr. Jones for his innovative approach to coping with a cold office.

“I used to think he drank, like, way too much coffee, but he was actually just filling his mug with boiling water so he could bend his fingers for typing,” said reporter Jon Charles.

“He was the first to wear a down-filled vest under his downfilled parka,” added photographer Melanie Burke. “I use that trick all the time now.”

While he had his own body temperature to worry about, Mr. Jones always showed concern for new hires, urging them “Don’t fall asleep, don’t fall asleep,” when their teeth started chattering.

And then there was his lighter side, as noted by several co-workers. “You know smoke rings? Jonesy would blow air rings on those days when you can see your breath,” sportswriter Vince Olivier laughed. “Then there was the time he lost a World Series bet and had to lick the frozen handle of his filing cabinet. He’ll be missed, for sure. Once they scrape the frost off his desk, we’re gonna light some candles for a makeshift memorial. We were thinking flowers too, but, you know.”

According to Statistics Canada, office hypothermia is a growing problem in the workplace, accounting for more than 9,200 lost work days and between five and eight fatalities each year. Less severe cases, where office workers have lost toes and fingers to frostbite, often go unreported.

Officials from Occupational Heath and Safety were at the Chronicle Herald Journal most of the week but refused to comment on rumours that the antiquated heating and cooling system in the building contains only one switch marked “too hot” for the winter and “too cold” for the summer.

Meanwhile, the family of Bud Jones has set up a Go Fund Me campaign. By late yesterday, it was halfway to its goal of $50.