As the world reels from record-breaking heat, with 2024 officially the hottest year ever and 2025 already registering dangerous spikes across continents, the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) launches its new report: “Adapting to the Heat – Existing Global Responses for Workers’ Protections in Construction, Building Materials, Wood and Forestry Industries.”

This comprehensive 2025 edition maps over 70 global examples of legislation, collective bargaining agreements, and joint protocols that protect workers from extreme heat: a mounting threat for outdoor workers in construction and related sectors.

According to the ILO, more than 70% of the global workforce (over 2.4 billion workers) are exposed to extreme heat each year. This results in 22.85 million injuries and 18,970 deaths annually. Workers in Africa, Asia, and the Arab states are among the most exposed, while Europe is seeing the fastest rise in heat-related workplace deaths. Launched in the mark of the BWI Campaign “Too Hot To Work”, this report offers trade unions a timely evidence-based tool to engage, negotiate, and win protections for workers on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

The report highlights a growing wave of union-led efforts to negotiate life-saving protections. It documents several provisions for work in extreme heat including:

• Regulatory frameworks for work stoppages enshrined in collective agreements and national legislations.
• Employers’ duties to ensure worker safety in extreme heat present in collective agreements, joint employers/union protocols, national legislation and other local administrations.
• Workers’ compensation measures for work interruptions do to extreme heat.

“This report is both a warning and a tool. It equips unions and allies to demand their right to stop work when heat becomes deadly, to negotiate workplace adaptations, and to win compensation for climate-related risks,” said Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary.

The report offers:

• Comparative legislation across 40+ countries;
• Model provisions for Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), government legislation, and procurement contracts.
• Case studies on innovative protections and enforcement gaps.
• Strategic responses to heat hazards in the construction industry.

This report launches amid record temperatures: Delhi recently topped 42°C, with parts of North America, the Middle East, and Southern Europe bracing for heatwaves above 45°C.

Governments and employers must act now to adapt labour systems before more lives are lost.

Download the report.

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