Heat Stress and Heat Stroke at Work: Preventing the Heat Risk

A risk growing every summer

With ever-hotter summers, heat stress has become a concrete and growing risk for those working outdoors or in hot environments. It is not only about dramatic heat stroke: long before, insidious signs appear — fatigue, reduced concentration, loss of manual dexterity and impaired decision-making — factors that also raise the risk of "traditional" accidents.

Who is most exposed

Heat risk particularly affects sectors like construction, agriculture, road works and activities such as delivery riders. These combine physical effort, direct sun exposure and the impossibility of postponing the work.

INAIL and CNR tools: the Worklimate project

In Italy, INAIL addressed the topic with the Worklimate project, developed together with the CNR, providing companies with personalised forecasting tools and a heat-alert system by sector. The portal offers occupational heat-stress forecasts and hourly risk maps for the coming days, distinguishing acclimatised from non-acclimatised workers. INAIL has also published guidelines and a checklist of practical recommendations for planning prevention.

Recognising the signs in time

Before the full symptoms of heat stroke (body temperature above 40°C, loss of consciousness, convulsions), subtler but dangerous phases appear: intense tiredness, cramps, nausea, headache, confusion. Recognising them in oneself and in colleagues is the first defence, and is squarely part of workplace first-aid training.

Prevention measures

Assessment and planning

Heat risk must be included in the risk assessment and the DVR, designating a surveillance lead and using Worklimate forecasts to schedule the heaviest tasks in cooler hours.

Organisational measures

Rescheduling hours, rotation, frequent breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas, constant water availability. Gradual acclimatisation of new workers is essential: risk is highest in the first days.

Information and culture

Training workers to hydrate, recognise symptoms and not "tough it out" is decisive. As with work-related stress, a culture of "stopping when needed" saves health and sometimes lives.

In short

Heat stress is a foreseeable and preventable risk. With risk assessment, the Worklimate forecasting tools (INAIL-CNR), organisational measures and training in symptom recognition, it is possible to work safely even in the hottest summers.