Worksafe Australia - Managing Risks Associated with Working In Heat

With summer fast approaching, it is incumbent on all works sites to adhere to a WorkSafe heat plan. Check out your local Worksafe website or go to WorkSafe Australia.

Identifying hazards—find out what could go wrong and what could cause harm. For example, the following can help identify the dangers of working in the heat: 

• Review work tasks, design and management. Monitor temperatures in the workplace, the type of work being carried out, the duration and how strenuous the job is. 
• Ask your workers about any problems with heat that they have encountered at your workplace.
• Review your incident and injury records.

Assessing risks if necessary—understand the nature of the harm each hazard could cause, how severe the harm could be and the likelihood of it happening. In many cases, the risks and related control measures will be well known. In other cases, you may need to carry out a risk assessment to identify the nature of the harm caused by the hazard, the likelihood of somebody being harmed by the hazard and how serious it could be.

A risk assessment can help you determine what action you should take to control the risks and how urgently action needs to be taken.

Controlling risks—implement the most effective control measures reasonably practicable in the circumstances and ensure they remain effective over time. When implementing controls, the first thing that should be considered is whether the hazard can be eliminated, such as cancelling outdoor work when temperatures are high. 

Substitution, isolation and engineering controls should then be considered. For example:

• substitute the hazard for something safer: swap physical work for work that a machine can do.
• isolate the risk from workers: for example, by separating workers from hot machinery, and 
• engineering controls: such as setting up shade tents outdoors and using air conditioners indoors. 

If risk remains, administrative control measures should be implemented.

Administrative control measures include processes such as training, instruction and supervision. For example, schedule work to complete more physically demanding activities in cooler parts of the day. 

Personal protective equipment should be used to control any remaining risks. For example, provide breathable and light clothing. 

The control measures you have implemented should be monitored and reviewed to ensure they remain effective.

Further information on the risk management process is in the Model Code of Practice: Managing work health and safety risks.