A recent survey conducted by the National Coffee Association finds approximately 83 percent of adults in the U.S. drink coffee as a refreshing, and sometimes stimulating, beverage. But coffee is not the only beverage Americans turn to for a “jump start.”
Worldwide, energy drinks are a $15 billion industry, with as many as 400 different name brands on the market.
“Big companies like Pepsi and Coke are getting involved with this because there’s so much money to be made,” said Robert Manuel, a reliability engineer at Huntsman’s Port Neches Operations based in the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas, region.
Discussing the effects of heat stress and caffeinated drinks at the Texas Chemical Council Safety Committee’s Contractor Safety Management Best Practices Workshop held recently in Pasadena, Texas, Manuel noted while energy drinks are largely marketed to young adults and teens, trends in marketing are moving to the workplace.
Manuel cited the abundance of energy drink commercials depicting workers suffering from a mid-day “slump” who need a boost to get through the day.
While manufacturers describe energy drinks as dietary supplements “to get around the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” Manuel said he questions the safety of consuming these drinks on a regular basis, especially in hot work environments.
Manuel began researching energy drinks following an incident that occurred at his plant in February 2013, in which a contractor began having trouble breathing and was disoriented. Her heart was also racing.
Medical assistance was called. The diagnosis was caffeine reaction. The contractor had consumed a double espresso on the way to work.
“Then she drank a 16-ounce energy drink, and at break time she took an energy pill,” Manuel explained. “She was overloaded — much too much overloaded.”
According to Medical News Today, emergency room visits caused by energy drinks have doubled in the past four years, with patients being treated for migraines, insomnia, seizures, rapid and irregular heartbeats, and in some cases heart attacks. Other studies suggest larger doses of caffeine can lead to depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, delusions, hallucinations and psychosis.
“In my industry, we don’t need lapses in judgment,” Manuel said. “We’ve got people running heavy machinery.”
Following an investigation, the Huntsman plant removed all energy drinks from its soft drink machines.
“There are no more energy drinks sold in our plant,” Manuel said. “We don’t ban people from bringing them into the plant, but we don’t supply them.
“Some drilling rigs in West Texas are banning energy drinks on their property. They actually do inspections of trucks. If there’s an energy drink in the cup holder, somebody’s going to get some time off.”
Unregulated by the FDA, liquid energy boosters are packaged in large cans and small bottle shots but are also available in pills, mints and — most recently — as pure caffeine powder.
Companies are also educating employees regarding risk factors and symptoms of caffeine overload.
Erilyn White, a nurse practitioner at Covestro, noted caffeine is a diuretic that increases excretion of water from the body.
“It also acts as a stimulant, increasing the heart rate, which increases workload on the heart,” she said.
Stimulants have been implicated in heart-related deaths, White added. Excessive amounts of caffeine consumption can also cause vomiting, dehydration and increased muscle cramps.
Manuel stressed the need for companies to encourage employees to adopt healthy lifestyle alternatives and get proper rest.
Seven to nine hours of sleep per night is recommended to avoid workplace fatigue.
An article published by the Houston Chronicle noted OSHA’s concerns regarding workplace fatigue and the effect it can have on workplace safety. The administration is prepared to cite employers when it discovers situations in which the health and safety of workers are put at risk because of long hours.
“We’re a 24/7 operation, so we have people (consuming energy supplements) on a regular basis. But they know and we know that they’re going to have to crash sooner or later,” Manuel concluded. “As with everything we put in our bodies, moderation is the key.”
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