Workers wearing heavy PPE warned to take extra precautions during heatwaves

Background

Two Territory workers wearing heavy personal protective equipment (PPE) have been hospitalised with heat related illnesses in the last three months despite their worksites having adequate systems, facilities and hydration supplies in place to manage heat.

Incident one: In mid-August 2024, a worker conducting outdoor training wearing body armour collapsed with symptoms of heat exhaustion and was hospitalised. The conditions that day were considered mild by Territory standards, however the worker indicated they had not been maintaining their hydration.

Incident two: In late October 2024, a third year apprentice working on a construction site was hospitalised with heat related illnesses. The apprentice had been wearing full welding PPE and was welding in a location exposed to direct sunlight for approximately three hours before becoming unwell. A severe heatwave had been declared in that region on that day.

NT WorkSafe has also commenced enquires after receiving information that match officials for a Top End sporting competition were at risk of heat stress due to officials being appointed to back to back games with no opportunity to properly cool down and hydrate.

Safety Information

The human body needs to maintain a body temperature of approximately 37 degrees Celsius. Working in heat can be hazardous and can cause harm to workers if the workers’ body temperature rises above 37 degrees Celsius for too long a period and is unable to cool.

Heat related illnesses range in seriousness from dehydration, to heat exhaustion, to heatstroke. Heatstroke is the most serious heat related illness that can lead to permanent disability or death without emergency treatment.

Regulation 40(f) of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011 specifically requires PCBUs to ensure workers working in extreme heat can do so without risk to health and safety.

NT WorkSafe urges all workplaces with workers working outdoors during the build-up (Top End) or summer (Central Australia) to ensure the following measures are in place:

1. Undertake Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Control (HIRAC) using Safe Work Australia’s Guide for managing the risks of working in heat. Your HIRAC should also take into consideration:
   • Heatwave warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology and/or extreme heat health alerts published on the NT Health Facebook page.
   • Additional radiant or reflective heat the workers are exposed to due to the work environment (i.e. workers on a metal roof or working near an operating engine or other heat source).
   • The level of physical exertion the work requires (light, medium or heavy work).
   • The level of acclimatisation of each individual worker. This includes Territory workers who may be new to working for extended periods of time outside in the Northern Territory climate.
2. Ensure your workers have appropriate information, training and/or instruction on the potential risks of working in the heat. This information should also include the symptoms of the various heat related illnesses.
3. Have a heat stress/heat stroke management plan in place and ensure your workers have the required information and items readily available to implement the plan, if a heat stress or heat stroke incident occurs at the workplace. The Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation (ANZCOR) guidelines (9.3.4) for heat induced illness can assist. Ensure you have sufficient first aid trained workers.
4. Consider available control measures and implement them to eliminate the risk so far as is reasonably practicable. Where it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk, minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable. The PCBU must manage the risk of heat related illness by providing a safe system of work, which may include one or more of the following:
   • Scheduling work (especially heavy work) to avoid the hottest part of the day, and working in the early morning, late afternoon or night.
     • This should also include work in high heat environments such as ceiling spaces (limited ventilation) and roof tops (solar radiation and reflected heat) to give two examples.
   • If practicable, perform work in shaded areas, or shade your workers using temporary shade structures such as portable marquees or gazebos and use equipment to increase air movement, such as fans.
   • Ensure work wear or personal protective equipment (PPE) is appropriate for the work being done and hazards faced by your workers.
     • Wearing light coloured clothing (especially white or reflective clothing) is preferable to prevent absorbing heat.
   • Schedule appropriate rest breaks for workers, and actively encourage them to both cool down and hydrate. Encourage or enforce workers to take more frequent breaks if they are performing work during the hottest part of the day.
     • Workers who are required to wear heavy PPE, should remove all PPE during rest breaks to assist in cooling down.
   • Encourage workers to use rest breaks to actively cool their body temperature.
     • It’s important to understand that hydration alone may not be enough to cool the body down in the Northern Territory climate.
     • A recommended cooling method by occupational heat stress consultant Dr Matt Brearley is to ingest a crushed ice drink (like a slushy) , with the melting ice in the body helping with the cooling.
   • Ensure appropriate facilities are available for workers, including:
     • At the minimum, shaded rest areas with access to plenty of fluids for hydration. The rest areas should be as close to the work area as possible.
     • Provide appliances to increase air flow (such as fans) or provide artificial cooling (such as portable evaporative coolers).
     • The rest area should also have the required items to manage a heat induced illness as outlined in ANZCOR guidelines 9.3.4.
     • Another low cost recommendation by Dr Brearley is an esky (or similar portable icebox) containing ice and water, with two cotton towels.
     • Have your workers monitor each other for signs of heat stress (see point 2) and implement your heat stress management plan if required.
5. Follow the Northern Territory’s Work health and safety consultation, cooperation and coordination Code of Practice, and consult your workers and their health and safety representatives and seek feedback on the effectiveness of the control measures implemented at the next toolbox talk or team meeting.

Further Information

For further information, please refer to the following.

• Guideline 9.3.4 – Heat Induced Illness (Hyperthermia) - Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation (ANZCOR)
• Heatwave Service for Australia (The Bureau of Meteorology)
• Extreme heat health alerts (NT Health Facebook)
• Guide for managing the risks of working in heat (Safe Work Australia)
• Heat stress management presentation from Dr Matt Brearley
• Working in heat – Information Bulletin