Employers are being urged to manage worker exposure to extreme heat as the UK faces heat health alerts and growing operational pressure from hotter summer conditions.
The Health and Safety Executive has reminded employers that they have legal duties to protect workers from extreme heat, even though there is no legal maximum workplace temperature. The regulator said heat is a workplace hazard and should be treated like other health and safety risks.
The warning follows a UK Health Security Agency heat health alert for parts of the country, with employers advised to plan ahead and support staff working in hot conditions indoors or outdoors. The HSE said workers should speak to employers if temperatures are not comfortable.
John Rowe, deputy director for technical support and engagement at the HSE, said: “Practical steps can include providing adequate ventilation and shade.”
The regulator’s advice includes making sure workplace windows can be opened or closed to control hot air, using blinds or reflective film, moving workstations away from direct sunlight or heat sources, insulating hot pipes and machinery, offering flexible working patterns, providing free drinking water, relaxing dress codes where possible, and ensuring personal protective equipment is suitable for the weather.
Employers are also being encouraged to share information on heat stress symptoms and what to do if someone is affected. The HSE said everyone is at risk, whether working indoors or outdoors, and employers should discuss changes with workers to manage exposure.
The legal framework is broad rather than temperature specific. Workplace regulations require employers to provide a reasonable temperature in indoor workplaces, while the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require suitable risk assessments and action to minimise risks as far as reasonably practicable. Extreme weather, including heatwaves, falls within that duty.
Commercial exposure is becoming more visible. Heat affects productivity, error rates, concentration, physical safety, customer service, machinery use, logistics reliability, construction schedules, retail footfall, healthcare settings, warehousing, and transport. In some sectors, it can also affect product quality, cold chain integrity, food safety, and equipment performance.
The operational disruption caused by climate volatility has already been examined in Climate disruption hits UK businesses. The HSE warning brings that pressure into the workplace, where employers must translate changing weather conditions into day to day management decisions.
Outdoor and physically demanding work carries the most obvious exposure. Construction, agriculture, highways, logistics, waste management, maintenance, events, delivery, and security roles can all face higher risk during heatwaves. Indoor workers are not protected automatically. Warehouses, kitchens, factories, retail stockrooms, care settings, schools, and older offices can all become difficult to work in when ventilation, insulation, or cooling is poor.
The absence of a maximum legal temperature can create confusion. Some employers interpret it as flexibility. In practice, it means they must assess conditions in context. A temperature that is manageable in a sedentary office may be unsafe in a kitchen, workshop, loading bay, plant room, or outdoor site requiring protective clothing.
Hybrid and flexible working may reduce risk for some roles, but it is not a universal answer. Many front line jobs cannot move home. Employers with mixed workforces therefore need practical controls for those who must remain on site, not only guidance for office staff.
Heat also exposes differences in workplace resilience. Large employers may have facilities teams, occupational health support, safety advisers, and estates budgets. Smaller employers may work from older premises with limited cooling and little spare capital. That does not remove the duty to assess and manage risk, but it can make compliance more operationally difficult.
There is a productivity dimension as well as a safety duty. HSE said protecting workers can help maintain productivity, and that point is increasingly important. Heat stress, dehydration, fatigue, and poor sleep during hot nights can reduce performance even before illness occurs. Early planning can reduce disruption from last minute schedule changes, staff absence, customer complaints, or unsafe working conditions.
The UK’s workplace infrastructure was not designed for repeated extreme heat. As hotter summers become more frequent, measures that once looked temporary may need to become part of normal operational planning. Site design, refurbishment, air flow, shade, work scheduling, PPE procurement, risk assessment, and employee communication will all require closer attention.
The HSE warning is immediate, but the underlying issue is long term. Heatwave planning now sits within workforce resilience, facilities management, and business continuity. Employers that treat it only as a seasonal inconvenience risk being caught between legal duties, staff wellbeing, and avoidable operational disruption.
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