Heat stress and older workers: Addressing the safety gap

Heat stress and older workers: Addressing the safety gap As heatwaves become more frequent and intense globally, protecting workers from heat stress, especially older adults, is a critical priority. Luana C Main and Joanne N Caldwell explain how to foster a safer working environment. With dangerous heatwaves now escalating in frequency, intensity, and duration across the globe, protecting the workforce is becoming an immediate and critical priority. This accelerating shift in the climate demands that governments, industries, and organisations rethink how they safeguard workers in increasingly extreme conditions. While heat stress affects workers of all ages, older workers face distinct vulnerabilities that require targeted strategies (i.e., 50-65+ years). (1) An “older worker” is someone whose age related physiological, cognitive, or social changes begin to influence how they perform, recover from, or are exposed to the demands of their job. As global populations age and more people remain in the workforce longer, protecting older workers during extreme heat is not only a matter of occupational health but also one of economic resilience, equity, and long-term workforce sustainability.