All in a day’s work for those laboring in Arctic temps

LYNN – The thermometer stood at 15 degrees Monday morning in Central Square but Ron Baetzel’s seen and felt colder in his job as a road foreman.”I did a job on the Gloucester causeway. Exposed to the wind off the ocean like that, it was cold.”Baetzel and a variety of other workers spanning the employment spectrum from utility line repairers to delivery workers, paramedics and police officers, labor outside on a regular basis.Baetzel and co-worker Emmet Cavanagh dress for freezing weather but pile on layers of heavy clothes, preferably wool, and take coffee breaks to stay warm. Police Officer Jack Marr follows the same strategy when he works outdoors.Long periods of cold weather mean winter jobs take longer to complete.”Frozen ground and tools slow to start in cold weather lengthen job times in cold weather.”A job that could take a week can take a month,” Baetzel said.He prefers the cold months to sweltering July and August days when water jugs, not steaming cups of coffee, sustain him.”It’s more refreshing.”The good news for outside workers is that the temperatures are expected to rise beginning Tuesday.