AWU Safety Update | Staying Safe in the Heat

Summertime is coming up fast and the Queensland sun is always unforgiving, that’s why it’s important for you to know your rights when it comes to staying safe when it is hot.

Working in the heat can lead to heat-related illness, which can be incredibly severe – in some cases, leading to serious injury or death.

Under the Work Health & Safety Act 2011, your employer has an obligation to provide you with a safe work environment. That should mean taking responsible steps to mitigate risks in the workplace, such as working in the heat.

This can include:

• Providing cool drinking water.
• Allowing workers to take plenty of breaks.
• Scheduling high intensity takes earlier or later in the day to avoid the heat.
• Where possible, providing air-conditioned break rooms.

Some employers have a heat policy or direction in place to manage this risk. Make sure you have read these directions and/or policies so you understand your employer’s obligations.

Your ability to stop work when it is unsafe

Your key right when it comes to your health and safety in the workplace is section 84 of the Work Health & Safety Act 2011. It reads as follows:

‘A worker may cease, or refuse to carry out, work if the worker has a reasonable concern that to carry out the work would expose the worker to a serious risk to the worker’s health or safety, emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard.’

This means that if it is too hot and you are concerned that continuing to work will put you at immediate risk of a heat-related illness, you are legally able to stop work and take a break. You are still required to remain at the worksite and undertake any jobs within your role that are safe to perform.

Your right to not undertake tasks at work that you reasonably believe could put you at immediate risk of injury is also true for other hazards in the workplace – there is no legal requirement for you to perform tasks that could put your health and safety in immediate danger, especially if no controls have been put in place by the employer (e.g. providing cool drinking water, scheduling high intensity tasks at the time of the day where it is less hot, allowing you to take plenty of breaks).

If you are ever being pressured by management into not taking a rest break while working in heat (or pressured into putting yourself into a situation you believe could lead to an immediate risk of injury), you have the right to not perform that task. The AWU takes these matters very seriously and will assist you.

If this occurs, tell your supervisor that you are not going to conduct the task because you believe that it may put you at immediate risk of injury and call your AWU Delegate, your HSR or your Organiser immediately.

The Warning Signs

The warning signs of heat exhaustion are:

• Clammy skin
• High pulse
• Fatigue and nausea
• Loss of concentration
• Confusion
• Vomiting
• Light-headedness
• Weakness
• Fainting
• Slurred speech

Symptoms that indicate heat stroke include:

• Unconsciousness
• Staggering
• Confusion
• High temperature and hot skin
• Convulsions
• Incoherence

Stay safe over the next few weeks. We are here to support you with your safety on the job.