New Standard Heat Policy for Worksite Safety Amid Rising Summer Temperatures

It has been 13 years since Jenny Newport's son died from extreme heat while on a worksite in Queensland, and she believes not much has changed. Ms Newport had hoped there would be an effective heat policy for every worksite across the state after her son's death. "It's unbelievable," she said. Her son, Glenn Newport, had flown to his worksite in Queensland's Western Downs from Brisbane amid a three-day heatwave in 2013. According to the coroner's report into Mr Newport's death, the temperature on the day "exceeded 40 degrees Celsius". Mr Newport had been contracted to work on a coal seam gas pipeline construction project near Roma and had been taking regular breaks with his crew throughout the day. The 38-year-old became gradually incapacitated by the heat and was taken to the worksite clinic for treatment around lunchtime. "He was seen staggering as he walked back to his donga, and it was left up to his mates to check on him," Ms Newport told the ABC. By the evening, Mr Newport had collapsed in his room and was taken to hospital, but he died from hyponatraemia — as a consequence of working in excessive heat — while in the ambulance. "If he'd been allowed to stop work, or if there had been that duty of care, he would still be here. "State governments and federal governments are doing so much to safeguard our country from climate change, isn't it about time we actually safeguarded or future-proofed our workforce?" 'It's not about stopping work' In Queensland there is no set maximum temperature for workers, but employers need to manage heat risks according to the Health and Safety Act. Under the Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPICs) standards, which were negotiated between the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) and the former Queensland Labor government, workers could stop work at 35C or 29C with 75 per cent humidity. In 2024, the newly-elected LNP government sensationally suspended BPIC for new major government projects. CFMEU Queensland executive Jared Abbott said an industry standard heat policy would ensure workers would be protected and would not reduce productivity. "[A heat policy] would drive companies to have better productivity and certainly drives better behaviour on site." Loading... Workplace Health and Safety Queensland provides guidance — including an online heat stress calculator to help businesses undertake a heat stress risk assessment — and other educational resources on its website. A 'graded approach' recommended With extreme heat becoming increasingly more prominent, experts have also warned a heat policy that is "fit for purpose" needs to be adopted across worksites. Professor Ollie Jay, the director of the Heat and Health Research Centre at the University of Sydney, said he believed a graded approach should be used. "We need to shift from thinking about just hot weather to focusing on hot people in hot environments," Professor Jay said. A year after Mr Newport died, the Australian Open was in the grip of a four-day heatwave that saw a record number of players pull out. Professor Jay worked on developing a heat policy, which the grand slam adopted, with a focus on cooling down the athletes while they performed in extreme temperatures. The policy measures air temperature, humidity, black globe temperature and wind speed as a collective and uses graded measures — such as applying ice towels and increasing water intake — to reduce heat stress while also maintaining productivity. Professor Jay said a common problem is that the standard meteorological measure of air temperature is taken in the shade, meaning the radiant heat on worksites in direct sun is often much hotter. He suggested that a heat policy similar to the Australian Open's could be adopted nationally for workers. "It's such a pressing need. We know it's getting hotter and these are things that need to be put in place to protect workers," Professor Jay said. "It can be directly applied for worksites but it will need to be repurposed from catering to athletes to catering to worksites.