Extreme heat is a growing workplace emergency
Toronto – July 3, 2026 – As the heat of summer intensifies, extreme heat is becoming even more of a deadly workplace hazard. Across all working sectors — especially agriculture, food processing, hospitality, and kitchens — workers face growing risks to their health and lives.
Whether working outdoors under the sun or indoors in poorly ventilated kitchens, bakeries, and factories, workers are collapsing, falling ill, and dying. Extreme heat is not only a climate crisis — it is a workers’ rights and survival emergency.
Earlier this year, the IUF (the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations) adopted a Call to Action on Extreme Heat to support unions in protecting workers’ health, safety, and lives. This is a practical tool for affiliate unions to use this document in:
- Collective bargaining and workplace negotiations.
- Engagement with employers and labour authorities.
- Organizing and awareness-raising among members.
- Public campaigning and advocacy ahead of hot seasons.
The Call to Action is grounded in international labour and human rights standards and is designed to strengthen union demands for safe working conditions, including protection for migrant, seasonal, and informal workers. Read the IUF Call to Action on Extreme Heat: available in English, Spanish, and French
No worker should be forced to risk their life because of heat.
Additional resources on extreme heat and heat stress
- Heat at work: Implications for safety and health (ILO.org)
- Join the OFL’s Heat Stress Campaign (ofl.ca)
- Heat Stress Toolkit (ohcow.on.ca)
