Research led by Dr Alba Fuertes, from the School of the Built Environment at the University of Reading, shows that extreme heat events are causing dangers to construction workers
The report published by the university shows that hot weather is already having a measurable impact on construction workers health and wellbeing, as most construction sites are unable to protect them.
Evidence was gathered by construction management experts asking their workers and managers how heat affects them at work, and what measures are in place to help them.
307 respondents gave answers from April-September 2025
106 site workers and 201 managers gave answers to the questions. 67% of site workers said they were concerned about the impact of heat on their health, and 44% said they have experienced a heat-related illness such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, or dehydration. 50% said they know someone at work who has been affected by the same.
Besides immediate health concerns, 87% said they feel more tired, 58% said they feel more annoyed, and 61% said they find it difficult to concentrate when the weather is hot.
Issues besides health persist
Furthermore, the study found that:
- Discomfort and difficulty with tasks start at 20 to 25°C for more than four in ten of those surveyed, temperatures that are now common in a UK summer.
- Less than one in five (18%) site workers said the protective clothing they wear in summer is suitable for hot weather. Only 27% had been provided with effective personal cooling equipment such as cooling vests or packs.
- More than half (57%) of workers said they had received no compulsory training on how to deal with heat.
- Only 37% of workers and 57% of managers felt confident they could act correctly if someone showed signs of heat stroke.
- Heat is having a measurable impact on project delivery and costs. Nearly half of managers (48%) reported that heat causes programme delays, while 55% indicate that it results in costs they had not planned for.
- Most people take action to protect themselves and others from heat risks based on their own experience rather than from training or official guidelines. Personal experience was the most common source of information for both groups, named by 78% of each.
- The report found that managers and site workers do not always agree on how prepared sites are against heat. Managers tend to report that protective measures are in place and working, while the workers themselves often say they were not available or ineffective. For shaded rest areas, 67% of managers saw them as effective, compared with 47% of workers. The gap suggests that protections do not always reach the people who need them.
Dr Alba Fuertes, from the School of the Built Environment at the University of Reading, said: “Heat is already a danger for workers on construction sites and other outdoor workplaces on warm days, not a problem for some distant summer. Workers are experiencing heat-related illnesses, getting more tired, and losing focus, yet there is no legally defined maximum workplace temperature to protect workers from excessive heat in the UK.
“In the absence of clear regulatory guidelines, together with an awareness gap, our study shows that heat adaptation is done based on personal experience and responses to heat remain inconsistent and insufficient across the sector. As our summers get hotter, sites need to proactively adopt effective measures and become more resilient to increased temperatures. Without effective measures and more awareness, construction firms could be putting lives at risk by allowing work to continue in dangerous conditions to workers’ health.”
The report can be read in full here.
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