{"id":11857,"date":"2026-06-30T12:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.c2dprevention.com\/?p=11857"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:11:07","slug":"heat-heatwaves-climate-change-the-new-occupational-risk-that-management-has-yet-to-integrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.c2dprevention.com\/en\/blog-en\/heat-heatwaves-climate-change-the-new-occupational-risk-that-management-has-yet-to-integrate\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat, Heatwaves, Climate Change: The New Occupational Risk That Management Has Yet to Integrate"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Your risk assessment document mentions noise, falls, musculoskeletal disorders. But what about 40\u00b0C in your warehouse this summer? Since July 2025, climate risk is an occupational risk in the legal sense of the term \u2014 with real penalties attached.<\/strong><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What You Will Learn<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The summer of 2025 hit hard. Four heatwaves, 69 departments under heatwave alert, more than 5,700 deaths attributable to heat over the entire monitoring season, and 9 fatal workplace accidents directly linked to intense heat episodes, reported by France’s Directorate General of Labour. These victims were aged between 35 and 63. They worked primarily in construction, public works, and agriculture.<\/p>

This is no longer a weather event. It is an occupational risk. And it is now written into French labour law.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A Summer 2025 That Changed Everything \u2014 And a Legal Framework Finally Catching Up<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The summer of 2025 ranks 3rd among the hottest summers since 1900, with an average temperature 1.9\u00b0C above the historical norm. France experienced 4 heatwave episodes, including an early and prolonged one from 19 June to 6 July, and a particularly intense one in the South-West from 8 to 19 August.<\/p>

Against this backdrop, the French government took an unprecedented legislative step: Decree No. 2025-482 of 27 May 2025 introduced, for the first time, a formal obligation in the Labour Code to prevent the effects of extreme heat \u2014 enforceable from 1 July 2025 for all employers, public and private.<\/p>

In concrete terms: what was yesterday a matter of common sense or recommendation is today a legally enforceable obligation.<\/strong> This is exactly what C2D Pr\u00e9vention addresses in its Legal Roles and Responsibilities Conference<\/a>: understanding what the law requires of you, before the labour inspectorate reminds you.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Risk Assessment Document: Your DUERP Is Now Incomplete If Heat Isn't in It<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This is the point that many employers haven’t yet grasped.<\/p>

Extreme heat is now a fully-fledged occupational risk: employers are therefore required to include it in their Single Occupational Risk Assessment Document (DUERP). The new National Occupational Health Plan 2026-2030, launched on 5 June 2026, reaffirms the DUERP as the central tool of prevention and sets out the goal of better integrating heat-related risks into occupational risk assessments.<\/p>

In plain terms: if your DUERP was last updated in 2024 or early 2025 without including the heat risk, it is already non-compliant.<\/strong> And the labour inspectorate can show up at your door. To learn how to structure a compliant and sustainable occupational risk prevention<\/a> approach, this is precisely what C2D Pr\u00e9vention supports on a daily basis.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What the Law Actually Says: Three Alert Levels, Three Levels of Obligation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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An intense heat episode is defined based on M\u00e9t\u00e9o-France’s vigilance thresholds: yellow alert (a heat peak lasting 1 to 2 days posing a health risk), orange alert (a prolonged heatwave likely to constitute a health risk for the population), or red alert (an exceptional heatwave in terms of duration, intensity, and geographic scale).<\/p>

At each level, employers must activate graduated measures. The obligation to act begins as soon as the yellow alert is triggered: the employer assesses the risks linked to workers’ exposure to intense heat episodes, whether indoors or outdoors, and defines the corresponding prevention measures.<\/p>

The concrete measures required by law are as follows:<\/p>

Work organisation<\/strong> \u2014 adjusting schedules, shifting the hottest working periods, providing additional rest periods.<\/p>

Technical adjustments<\/strong> \u2014 installing sun protection, improving ventilation, reducing heat build-up indoors (blinds, misting systems, air movers).<\/p>

Access to water<\/strong> \u2014 employers must guarantee access to fresh, drinkable water throughout the day, with a minimum of 3 litres per worker per day for outdoor positions.<\/p>

Reporting protocols<\/strong> \u2014 employers must define how workers report any concerning physiological signs, episodes of discomfort, or distress, and communicate these protocols to staff and to the occupational health service.<\/p>

Protection of vulnerable workers<\/strong> \u2014 older employees, pregnant women, people with fragile health conditions, and young workers, for whom it is prohibited to assign them to positions exposing them to extreme temperatures that could harm their health.<\/p>

These general principles of prevention<\/a> \u2014 assess, prioritise, act \u2014 apply here as a matter of course. Heat is not a separate risk category: it follows exactly the same legal logic as every other occupational risk.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Sanction That's Changing the Game<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As of 1 July 2025, the labour inspectorate can issue a formal notice to companies, giving them 8 days to define a list of prevention measures against risks linked to intense heat episodes. After this deadline, a formal violation report can be issued.<\/p>

And the stakes go well beyond an administrative fine. In the event of an accident or heat-related illness, an employer who hasn’t updated their DUERP, hasn’t trained their teams, and hasn’t provided water or a reporting protocol exposes themselves to civil, administrative, and criminal liability<\/strong>. That liability can extend all the way up to company executives \u2014 gross negligence, endangerment of others, even involuntary manslaughter.<\/p>

This is precisely why C2D Pr\u00e9vention designed its Legal Roles and Responsibilities Conference<\/a> \u2014 with concrete legal case studies and real examples of companies held liable.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Industry, Construction, Logistics: The Most Exposed Sectors<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Make no mistake: indoor heat can be just as dangerous as on a construction site. A poorly ventilated open-plan office, a warehouse with no air conditioning, a restaurant kitchen \u2014 indoor heat causes the exact same conditions: dehydration, cramps, fainting, heatstroke, reduced alertness.<\/p>

In warehouses, high ceilings allow heat to accumulate in the upper part of the building, while logistics operations and frequent door openings amplify temperature fluctuations. In factories and workshops, machinery and industrial processes add internal heat sources on top of outdoor temperatures.<\/p>

The Impact on Performance: An Economic Reality Management Still Overlooks<\/strong><\/p>

This isn’t just a regulatory issue. It’s an economic one. Above 20\u00b0C, productivity drops by 2 to 3% per degree, according to research by the WHO and the World Meteorological Organization. And at 33-34\u00b0C, it falls by 50% \u2014 what’s known as heat stress. For a warehouse, a construction site, or a production line running at full capacity in July, the cost is immediate, measurable, and undeniable.<\/p>

French statistics confirm this trend: the construction sector recorded 149 deaths in 2023 and 8 million lost working days. Heat compounds the pressure on sectors already facing high accident rates. To better understand the broader dynamics of workplace accidents in France, our article Work Accidents & Occupational Diseases 2024: Key Figures, Causes, and Actions<\/a> offers a comprehensive overview.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The National Occupational Health Plan 2026-2030: The Political Signal HR and Managers Must Read<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The National Occupational Health Plan (PST) 2026-2030 was published on 5 June 2026, the result of a collaborative effort between the State, social partners, and institutional stakeholders. It sets out the new strategic and operational roadmap for improving workers’ health over the next five years.<\/p>

The plan’s five priorities are: serious and fatal workplace accidents, women’s health at work, climate change among other emerging risks, absenteeism, and mental health. It calls for stronger support for companies in addressing the effects of climate change, with better integration of heat into occupational risk assessments and into the selection of personal protective equipment.<\/p>

This plan isn’t just another document. It’s the roadmap that will guide labour inspectorate audits, regional health insurance fund (CARSAT) priorities, and employment tribunal cases for the next five years. This is exactly what C2D Pr\u00e9vention closely monitors in order to support companies<\/a> with their compliance.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What Management Must Change \u2014 Now<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Here’s the problem in most companies today: heat is still treated as a seasonal inconvenience, not a structural risk to be managed. Bottled water gets handed out in July, a fan gets installed in the warehouse, and everyone hopes it’ll be enough.<\/p>

Since Decree No. 2025-482, work organisation, breaks, hydration, and workstation adjustments are no longer just common sense \u2014 they are structured prevention requirements. This shift means moving from static prevention to a dynamic approach. A DUERP updated once a year is no longer sufficient if conditions keep changing.<\/p>

Here’s what management must concretely put in place:<\/p>

Before the summer season<\/strong><\/p>