Controls are mandatory to the extent they are reasonably practicable under Australia’s workplace health and safety legislation.

When selecting the most appropriate control measure, employers should apply the ‘hierarchy of controls’. Applying the hierarchy means prioritising the most effective measures first. Eliminating the hazard altogether offers the highest level of protection. Where this is not reasonably practicable, employers should seek to reduce risk through substitution, isolation or engineering controls (that is, control measures that are physical in nature), before relying on administrative measures or personal protective equipment (PPE), which provide the lowest level of protection.

Below are some examples of controls that employers might implement in an extreme heat scenario, using the hierarchy of controls approach:

• Elimination: Reschedule or cancel non‑essential tasks during extreme heat and move tasks to cooler seasons or times of the day.
• Substitution: Replace tasks requiring direct sun exposure with shaded or automated alternatives. Use lower‑heat processes or materials.
• Isolation: Provide shade structures, cool rooms or remote operation to separate workers from radiant heat.
• Engineering controls: Increase ventilation, air‑conditioning, local cooling (such as by using misting fans), reflective barriers, insulated plant cabins and/or cooled drinking‑water stations.
• Administrative controls: Implement heat‑stress risk assessments, acclimatisation, job rotation, increased rest breaks in cool areas, work‑rest cycles tied to heat indices, hydration protocols, training and supervision and/or emergency/first‑aid plans for heat illness.
• PPE: Provide cooling vests, breathable high‑vis, wide‑brim hats, UV‑rated eyewear and/or sunscreen. Recognising PPE is the lowest order control and should not be relied on alone.

These measures give effect to the duties under the state-based work health and safety legislation to eliminate or minimise risks so far as reasonably practicable.

Once the applicable workload threshold is exceeded (as we explore in part one of our extreme heat series), the employer must:

• protect employees against direct solar radiation;
• provide appropriate refreshing drinks; and
• ensure that artificial ventilation is installed within 48 hours.

Where excessive heat persists for more than 48 hours, employers must also introduce rest periods.

Employees who consider that additional measures are required may raise this with the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work or with the organisation’s occupational physician.

The employer is also expected to take periods of extreme heat into account when carrying out its general duty to conduct a workplace risk analysis.

The following measures are mandatory under Chilean law:

• Provide free potable water at all times.
• Maintain adequate ventilation and fresh-air supply in enclosed workplaces.
• Supply, at no cost to employees, personal protective equipment (PPE) appropriate to the heat risk, including UV-protective equipment for employees who permanently work outdoors.
• Incorporate heat-protection measures in employment contracts or as part of internal health-and-safety regulations/policies for employees who permanently work in an outdoor environment.
• Inform workers promptly of heat risks, preventive measures and correct work methods.

The principal measures are mandatory. Employers must monitor temperature and humidity, monitor official heat warnings, keep prescribed records and implement the restrictions on outdoor work required by the Code of Practice. Employers are also expected to adopt appropriate preventive measures, including the provision of cool drinking water, shaded or cooled rest areas, suitable clothing and headgear, and organisational measures such as work rotation and scheduling work during cooler periods. In practice, these measures are treated as part of the employer’s health and safety obligations and should generally be regarded as mandatory where necessary to protect workers from thermal stress.

The law requires employers to protect their employees’ health by adopting measures ensuring their health and safety at work.

Specifically, legal regulations provide for hydration and protective beverages (amounts and contents depend on the specific circumstances), safety breaks, and work alternation, depending on the circumstances (mainly the temperature and the type of work). However, any other measures ensuring the health and safety of employees may be implemented (such as remote working, changes to the start and end of shifts or the provision of protective equipment), with a view to the individual circumstances.

There are no specific mandatory measures set out under Estonia law relating to working conditions during periods of extreme heat.

However, employers are required to implement measures to prevent or minimise health risks arising from physical hazards. Air temperature is considered a physical hazard in this respect.

In the case of extreme heat, such measures may include providing additional breaks (in a cool rest room/area), ensuring access to drinking water, allowing the use of a shower during the day, adjusting the work schedule, and/or avoiding the scheduling of work during the hottest periods of the day. The employer must determine suitable measures on a case by-case basis – there is no general recommendation related to specific measures.

Where a risk assessment identifies a heat risk, the employer must define and apply mandatory prevention measures. These might include:

• adapting work organisation and hours and scheduling rest breaks;
• drawing on the technical means to reduce solar radiation and heat build-up (such as introducing shading, ventilation or misting);
• providing appropriate work equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE); and
• ensuring adequate information and training to employees.

The employer must always provide sufficient cool drinking water and a means to keep it cool. On construction and forestry sites, where running water is impossible, at least three litres per worker per day must be supplied.

Indoor workplaces must be kept at a suitable temperature and outdoor workstations must protect against the weather.

Failure to implement the above measures can result in a formal notice issued by a labour inspector (a mise en demeure). This will require the employer to correct the violation within a specified timeframe.

In the event of heatwaves, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs will issue circulars outlining the measures that should be taken by employers to protect the health and safety of employees.

Based on previous circulars, such measures may include:

• the prohibition of outdoor work during certain hours;
• permitting telework;
• providing protective items, such as sunscreen; and/or
• prioritising the protection of persons who are especially vulnerable to heat.

These measures are often mandatory as part of the applicable circular and failure to comply may result in administrative sanctions.

To comply with the legal duty to provide a safe workplace and working conditions, employers should take the following steps:

• Ensure there are means in place to measure the temperature in relevant workspaces and conduct a risk assessment if this is deemed to be necessary following such temperature readings.
• Maintain a reasonable indoor temperature.
• Provide clean, fresh air.

Ensure employees can work safely without risk to their health, such as by providing regular rest breaks, appropriate ventilation, access to rest areas and freely available drinking water.

The labour codes impose a general duty to maintain safe working conditions, but the operative detail is set out in official guidance.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment’s advisory dated 28 April 2026 calls on States to direct employers to reschedule working hours, ensure access to drinking water, provide rest areas and cooling measures, supply emergency ice packs and heat illness prevention material, and coordinate health check-ups. Factory and mine management are also advised to reduce the pace of work and deploy two-person teams where continuous work is unavoidable.

Delhi’s Heat Wave Action Plan 2026 requires cool drinking water, protective headgear and first aid at worksites, and restricts outdoor work between 12:00 and 15:00 during severe heatwaves.

These measures are generally non-binding recommendations, but may become binding where a State issues directions to employers.

There are no specific statutory checklists of heat protection measures, but employers are legally required to assess and manage heat-related occupational risks. In practice, this obligation requires implementing appropriate preventive and organisational measures such as adjusting working hours, providing hydration and rest breaks, ensuring shaded or cooled environments, and, where necessary, suspending work during extreme heat conditions.

In addition, regional and local authorities may issue specific ordinances during heatwaves, which can impose further binding or recommended measures for employers. These may include, for example, restrictions or suspensions of certain outdoor working activities during peak heat hours, particularly in sectors such as construction, agriculture, and logistics. Employers must therefore also monitor and comply with any applicable regional or municipal provisions in force at the relevant time.

The employer is required, during working hours, to ensure that the workplace temperature and levels of ventilation comply with Kazakhstan’s established ‘sanitary and epidemiological’ requirements.

Accordingly, during periods of abnormal or extreme heat, and in order to maintain the legally prescribed microclimate conditions (see part one of our extreme heat series), employers must make use of appropriate ventilation and cooling systems.

In addition, it is recommended that employers provide employees with access to cool drinking water and, where necessary, arrange rest breaks. This is particularly relevant for employees working outdoors.

According to recommendations from authorised bodies in Kazakhstan, when working outdoors at temperatures of 32.5°C and above, employers should also ensure the following:

• short, regular breaks every 15–20 minutes;
• rest periods of at least 10–12 minutes in a cool indoor environment;
• access to drinking water and cooling facilities (such as shaded areas, shelters, or fans);
• provision of personal protective equipment (including headwear and light-coloured protective clothing);
• limits on the total duration of work of up to 4–5 hours per shift when wearing heat-protective clothing, and no more than 1.5–2 hours without such protective clothing;
• the reduction of the length of shifts, particularly during peak temperature hours, from 12:00 to 16:00.

These are not binding legislative requirements but rather recommendations issued by authorised bodies. In practice, employers should formalise all such arrangements either in employment contracts, or in the organisation’s internal policies (such as employer acts) and/or collective agreements.

The Health Department and the Labour and Mines Inspectorate have issued guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of work-related accidents during periods of extreme heat, particularly for outdoor work. Employers are advised to:

• provide employees with access to cold drinking water;
• reduce tasks involving sustained and prolonged physical activity, particularly near or in contact with metal sheeting, concrete or tarred surfaces exposed to direct sunlight;
• provide appropriate equipment to mitigate heat, such as fans; and
• install air-conditioned areas in the workplace.

Employers must protect the health and safety of their employees, but Dutch law does not prescribe specific heat-related measures. The appropriate measures will depend on the outcome of the mandatory Risk Assessment and Evaluation (RI&E) and the nature of the work. Preventative measures are not generally mandatory, but are highly recommended.

Common measures include adjusting working hours (for example, by introducing a ‘tropical schedule’), providing additional breaks and drinking water, reducing physical exertion, creating shaded or cool(er) workspaces, installing ventilation or cooling facilities, and shielding employees from heat sources. Cooling clothing or other personal protective equipment may also be deployed. In several sectors, collective labour agreements or health and safety catalogues contain mandatory or recommended industry-specific provisions.

Measures that an employer, or more generally a person conducting a business or undertaking (PBCU), could take include:

• monitoring temperatures in the workplace;
• providing access to drinking water and cooldown facilities;
• scheduling additional breaks; and
• managing heat by methods such as air conditioning.

Regardless of whether it is a period of extreme heat, an employer and PCBU is under a general duty in relation to workplace facilities, including to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that ventilation is adequate to enable workers to perform work without risks to health and safety.

The regulations contain several provisions relating to temperature, including requirements to:

• provide employees with free drinking water where the temperature exceeds 28°C for indoor work, and 25°C for outdoor work;
• provide at least 90 litres of water per employee for hygiene purposes where work involves high temperatures or significant contamination risk (or 60 litres where showers are used);
• provide employees with personal protective equipment to protect against workplace hazards;
• implement technical measures in work areas where harmful factors (such as high temperatures, noise, vibrations, radiation, gases, dust, and vapours) are present, to prevent the spread to other work areas and sanitary facilities.

Turkish law does not contain specific rules dealing exclusively with extreme heat. However, under occupational health and safety legislation, employers are under a general obligation to identify heat-related risks and implement appropriate preventive measures. Accordingly, the following measures would generally be considered mandatory where required by the workplace risk assessment:

• providing adequate drinking water;
• ensuring suitable ventilation or cooling systems;
• organising work in a manner that reduces exposure to excessive heat;
• providing appropriate personal protective equipment where necessary; and
• informing employees about heat-related risks.

In addition, while measures such as adjusting working hours, increasing the frequency of rest breaks, reducing physically demanding tasks during the hottest periods of the day, and providing shaded rest areas for outdoor workers are not expressly mandated by legislation, they would generally be recommended as good practice, depending on the nature of the work and the level of heat exposure.

Employers should:

• ensure that the total duration of work at temperatures above 28°C does not exceed 4-5 hours per shift (this is mandatory where the required temperature cannot be maintained);
• avoid sudden temperature fluctuations in air-conditioned rooms with a suggested temperature of +24 – 25°C;
• maximise the use of natural ventilation;
• adjust working hours, shifts patterns and rest breaks, including introducing additional rest breaks;
• provide employees with access to drinking water and take steps to prevent overheating; and
• provide additional training on safe working practices and first aid for heat-related conditions (including sunstroke, heatstroke or dizziness).

It is mandatory for employers to take practical measures during periods of extreme heat.

Since November 2025, employers in activities with possible heat exposure must prepare and document a specific protocol, integrated into their Prevention Plan, with worker participation through a joint employer and employee safety committee. The protocol must include:

• a specific (non-generic) risk assessment;
• defined activation triggers (based on workplace measurements or INUMET alerts);
• preventive measures, and health surveillance;
• emergency and first-aid planning; and
• follow-up and worker communication.

The framework sets out a range of measures from which employers must select, including ensuring access to hydration and cooler shaded rest areas, providing light breathable clothing, introducing rest breaks, ensuring sun protection, adjusting working hours to reduce exposure during peak heat, implementing acclimatisation plans, avoiding solo work, and, where heat cannot be adequately controlled, shortening the working day.

While having a protocol is mandatory, the measures required will depend on the outcome of the risk assessment.

Under federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) law, there is no single comprehensive heat standard. Instead employers should take reasonable steps to prevent recognised heat hazards under the General Duty Clause and OSHA’s heat enforcement programme. OSHA guidance recommends measures such as:

• providing water, rest, and shade or cooling;
• allowing and encouraging more frequent breaks as heat stress rises;
• acclimatising new or returning workers;
• monitoring employees for heat illness;
• training employees and supervisors to recognise symptoms;
• planning for emergencies; and
• adjusting schedules, workload, or work practices where needed.

Although these measures are often framed as recommended, where heat presents a recognised serious hazard, particularly in industries targeted by OSHA’s Heat National Emphasis Program, employers should treat them as practical compliance measures, rather than merely optional best practices.

State OSHA plans may also impose mandatory heat-specific measures.