Make sure you remember the three golden rules of working in hot conditions:

1)  PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR MATES

Your employer has a duty to provide a safe workplace, and you have a right to be safe at work.

Stay safe in the heat by:

• avoiding work in areas where you are exposed to intense heat
• reducing your exposure to direct sunlight wherever possible;
• wearing broad-brimmed hats, appropriate clothing and plenty of sunscreen;
• working to how you feel, pacing your effort;
• staying hydrated with water at all times; and
• taking regular rest breaks to cool down.

Rest is critical.  Ideally, rest breaks are taken in a cool area. As a guide, the following table shows how much rest you need while working in the heat.

If someone is suffering from heat stress they must immediately report to and be given first aid. This includes resting in a cooler area, keeping the skin wet and fanning to improve evaporation and cooling of the skin. Seek medical attention if the heat-affected worker doesn’t immediately improve with first aid

Keep an eye on your colleagues to make sure they are safe and well.  Don’t let your mates put themselves in a dangerous situation.

Look for the ‘heat hangover’ symptoms of fatigue, headache and irritability.

2) IF IT’S UNSAFE, STOP

Hot temperatures cause discomfort and hazards such as:

• physical and mental fatigue (and increased likelihood of accidents)
• increased discomfort in use of protective clothing and equipment
• aggravation of effects of other hazards, e.g. noise
• aggravation of pre-existing illnesses
• heat stress and heat-related illnesses.

Workplace laws and regulations, however, mean that employers must provide you with a safe working environment.

State and territory work health and safety (WHS) regulations state that:

• Ventilation must allow workers to carry out work without risks to health and safety; and
• Workers carrying out work in extremes of heat or cold must be able to carry out work without risks to their health and safety

These regulations do not specify temperatures at which action must be taken by an employer, although some Awards and many Enterprise Agreements may. Employers should also have policies and control measures in place; make sure you are familiar with these instruments.

Critically, WHS laws provide workers with the right to stop working if conditions are dangerous.  Furthermore, Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) also have the power to order that work ceases if workers’ safety is being put at risk.

The bottom line is that you have the right to stop working if your safety is being put at risk by exposure to extreme heat.

3)  IF YOU’RE FEELING UNWELL, GET HELP STRAIGHT AWAY

Working in excessively hot weather can be extremely dangerous, and even fatal. Every year, in Australia and around the world, workers die on the job due to extreme heat.

As the temperature rises the body becomes less able to dissipate body heat, heat-related illnesses become more likely. These include:

• Heat Cramps: These are painful cramps in the legs and arm muscles, the back and the stomach. They may occur due to profound fatigue, excessive sweating, electrolyte imbalance or a combination thereof.
• Heat Rash: Also known as prickly heat, heat rash is small red spots on the skin due to sweat gland blockage, with prickling sensation during sweating. Heavy sweating combined with friction between protective clothing/equipment and skin increases risk of heat rash.
• Heat Hangover: Fatigue, headache and irritability due to excess heat exposure. Residual symptoms are present during the following work shift and heat hangovers may be cumulative across a work swing.
• Heat Exhaustion: Is associated with fatigue and the inability to continue physical work in the heat. Symptoms include rapid pulse, rapid breathing, nausea, dizziness, pale skin, and general distress. If left untreated with ongoing heat exposure, it may develop into heat stroke.
• Heat Stroke: A medical emergency due to abnormally high body temperature and altered central nervous system (confusion/disorientation, irrational/strange behaviour, delirium, loss of consciousness, seizures). Heat stroke can result in organ damage, such as the brain, liver and kidneys, and ultimately death.

 If you start to feel symptoms from working in the heat, cease work and tell your manager why. Early identification of heat-related illness minimises the harm.

Watch the video with heat stress expert Dr Matt Brearley.