Working in heat and sun

What heat does to a crew

WorkSafe Victoria says a worker who becomes ill from working in heat can suffer heat stroke, fainting, heat exhaustion, cramps, rashes and fatigue. Safe Work Australia’s guide (October 2021) calls heat-related illness a progressive condition that can be fatal if left untreated, and says dehydration is a major risk when working in heat.

WorkSafe Victoria’s guide to working in heat is about how workplaces can stop workers getting heat illness. It covers the signs and symptoms of heat illness, the factors that raise the risk, how to control the risk and prevent the illness, the other problems hot conditions can cause, and what heat discomfort is and how to manage it.

Who must do what

Safe Work Australia’s guide says everyone in a workplace has health and safety duties. Those duties are the model WHS laws’, which the guide cites by Act section and Regulation; the Commonwealth, states and territories each regulate and enforce work health and safety law in their own jurisdiction, and Victoria’s law is the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. Under the model laws, the business carries the main one: it must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers, volunteers included, and other people are not put at risk by its work. On heat in particular, the guide says a business must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that:

• ventilation lets workers carry out work without risk to health and safety
• workers working in extremes of heat or cold can do so without risk to health and safety.

Workers must take reasonable care of their own health and safety and not harm anyone else’s. The business must consult its workers, and their health and safety representatives if there are any, on how to manage the risks of heat, and must review its controls to check they work and do not bring new risks. Safe Work Australia says it is not a regulator; for help, it points to your state or territory work health and safety authority.

From cancelling the job to sunscreen

The guide works down a list of controls. Where a risk cannot be eliminated, the business must minimise it so far as is reasonably practicable.

• Eliminate
  The first thing to consider is whether the risk can be removed altogether: for example, cancelling tasks or waiting for the heat to pass.
• Engineering
  Physical measures. Among the guide’s examples:

  • shade tents
  • shaded, air-conditioned or cool break areas as close as possible to the work
  • reducing radiant heat, for example by letting plant cool down before use
  • accessible cool drinking water, or electrolyte solutions when needed.

  A selection; the guide’s full list, which also covers buildings and indoor processes, is in the PDF listed at the foot of this page.
• Administrative
  Changing how the work is organised, such as doing the more physically demanding jobs in the cooler parts of the day. The guide adds that heat stress can still happen in cooler conditions, early morning included. Where possible, workers should not work alone, or should be monitored, and young or new workers must be supervised where needed.
• Protective equipment
  Where practicable, uniforms or dress codes can change so workers wear cooler, more breathable clothing. Items the guide suggests considering are loose fitting, lightweight clothing and wearable personal cooling systems, such as water-cooled or air-cooled garments, cooling vests and wetted garments.

Training sits across all of it. Workers must be trained to do their work safely, and the guide’s examples of that training include recognising the signs of heat-related illness in themselves and others, calling for help when needed, drinking enough water, and taking more regular breaks in heat. That is a selection of its ten examples.

Shade, hats and sunscreen

Safe Work Australia’s guide says protective equipment should be used to reduce the risk of solar ultraviolet exposure in outdoor work. The equipment it lists for sun protection includes:

• sun protective work clothing
• sun protective hats
• sunglasses
• sunscreen.

WorkSafe Victoria’s guidance on sun exposure in construction, farming, horticulture and parks maintenance says to organise work to manage exposure, such as avoiding the UV peak, use natural shade such as trees or put up shade, encourage suitable clothing, hats and sunglasses, and provide sunscreen. Its checklist for tree and gardening services asks whether sun protection measures are in place, giving hats, sunscreen and long-sleeve shirts as examples.

When someone becomes unwell

The guide’s first aid fact sheet, Appendix 1 of the PDF listed at the foot of this page, covers recognising and treating the most common heat illnesses.

The same guide says the business has a duty to make first aid equipment, facilities and trained first aid officers available to workers who are sick or injured. WorkSafe Victoria’s checklist asks whether workers know where the first aid kits and fire extinguishers are.