The impacts of climate change on workers is no longer a peripheral issue for Australian companies

The climate conversation is not new for Australian companies, but leaders are now being urged to pay closer attention to the rapidly evolving climate-driven hazards facing the workforce.

Among those hazards are extreme heat, deteriorating indoor air quality, wild weather events and the spread of vector-borne illnesses.

With the CSIRO projecting hot days in Australia becoming more frequent and hotter with very high confidence, heat and its impact on workers is one of the most immediate and escalating risks.

According to the World Health Organisation’s Climate change and workplace heat stress: technical report and guidance, published in August 2025, climate change is impacting everyone — but workers represent the largest vulnerable group.

Workers across nearly every sector are now exposed to rising ambient temperatures. While outdoor workers and first responders remain the most obviously at risk, indoor workers are not immune, particularly those in heat-intensive industries like foundries or steel mills, or roles requiring significant physical exertion.

The WHO warns that the health outcomes associated with workplace heat stress span a wide spectrum. Mild heat stress may leave no chronic effects, with workers returning to normal activity once core body temperature and hydration levels are restored.

Severe heat stress, however, is a medical emergency. It can cause tissue and organ damage with long-lasting — and in some cases irreversible — consequences. In its most acute form, workplace heat stress can be fatal.

While the climate-related hazards are global issues, the regulatory conversation in Australia is already gaining momentum — and businesses should expect further developments.

Safe Work Australia, the national work health and safety policy agency, recently released its Research & Evaluation Strategy, which identifies climate-related risks as a critical component of its five strategic focus areas.

Embedded within the strategy is a clear intention to deepen the nation’s understanding of emerging and innovative risks, including those driven by climate change.

Regulators are also beginning to act.

In November 2025, the ACT Government approved the Work Health and Safety (Managing the Risks Associated with Extreme Temperatures) Code of Practice.

The Code provides practical guidance for achieving the standards required under WHS legislation and outlines effective methods for identifying and controlling risks associated with extreme temperatures.

The union movement is likewise elevating pressure. The Australian Council of Trade Unions has highlighted the growing impacts of climate change on workers in its Position Paper on Climate Change and WHS Reform — Work Health and Safety in the Era of Climate Crisis, calling for a series of regulatory reforms to strengthen Australia’s WHS rights-based framework.

For business leaders, the message is clear: climate-driven workplace hazards are not hypothetical.

They are occurring now, and companies that fail to anticipate and prepare for these risks will expose their workers to harm, disrupt operations and invite regulatory scrutiny including directions from WHS regulators, formal investigations and potential prosecutions.

The WHO recommends a suite of risk controls for employers, including:

• Developing an Occupational Heat Action Programme (OHAP) incorporating heat-acclimatisation policies, fluid and electrolyte replacement, cooling stations, worker training, health surveillance and emergency response protocols — supported by engineering, administrative and personal protective controls.
• Installing air-conditioning or increasing ventilation, including through portable or local exhaust systems.
• Redirecting or reducing heat exposure via reflective shields, insulated surfaces and humidity-reduction measures such as sealing steam leaks and maintaining dry floors.
• Seeking specialised advice for workplaces where high ambient temperatures are typical (such as foundries or steel mills).
• Providing appropriate welfare facilities, including rest spaces, hygiene amenities, rehydration stations and cooling options such as arm-immersion cooling.
• Rotating tasks between hot and cool environments, and alternating between high- and low-exertion tasks.
• Modifying work schedules, including shifting strenuous labour to cooler periods of the day or providing cool rest areas where rescheduling is not possible.

The time for businesses to educate themselves is now.

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