Other parts of the country may be notorious for their summer heat (think Arizona, California, Florida, or Texas) but Illinois and Indiana also experience outdoor high temperatures each year that can be extreme. See, e.g., “Chicago Area Under Extreme Heat Warning as Dangerous Temps Could Feel Like 110 Degrees,” written by Eunice Alpasan and published by WTTV on June 29, 2026.
Working outdoors in high heat is known to put workers at risk of illness and injury. It’s a continuing problem. Consider this: OSHA has just extended its High Heat National Emphasis Program (“High Heat NEP”) until 2031, as well as almost doubling the number of industrial worksites targeted by federal inspectors. Heat hazards exist for workers on the job not only outdoors but for those employed inside places like factories, warehouses, and plants, too.
A shocking number of these High Heat NEP targeted workplaces are here in Illinois and Indiana, and our workers need to be alert to the very real danger that high heat poses to them.
This risk is not just for heat-stress illnesses (think heat stroke or heat exhaustion) but also for accident injuries that can be catastrophic or deadly caused by working in high heat.
High Heat Workplace: Risk of Accident on the Job
Of course, there are trades and tasks where high heat is a part of the work. For instance, there is “hot work” on a construction site or at a marine terminal when welders are joining metals using high heat. See, 29 CFR §1917.152(a).
However, high heat on any worksite, indoors or outdoors, where the worker is working in an environment where the heat index reaches 80°F to 85°F is at an increased risk of being hurt in an accident, and the risk of harm jumps when that heat index exceeds 90°F.
See, “Heat Stress and Workers,” published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on March 3, 2026 and “Protecting Workers From Injuries During Extreme Heat,” written by Maya Brownstein and published by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on October 7, 2025.
How does this happen? The high temperatures impact the worker’s body in several ways, and things can get more complicated when the worker is wearing some types of Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”) that help to protect against other hazards but hinders his body’s ability to stay cool.
Jobsites with high heat in many of our industries are filled with risks, and accidents can happen when the heat does things like:
1. Impairs Worker’s Ability to Think Clearly
The heat can cause the human brain to slow down. Function is not the same in high temperatures, and this can cause even the most experienced and savvy worker to get hurt when they fail to react fast to things like moving machinery parts or power tool kickbacks.
Workers on the job in high temperatures may also make mistakes, because the heat impairs their ability to concentrate. A driver may not hit the brakes fast enough on a forklift, for instance. And they get tired much faster, so they may just miss a warning that might have kept them safe, like a creaking sound before a fatal trench collapse.
2. Deteriorating Coordination and Performance
High temperatures impact the entire human body, too. It doesn’t take much for the heat to cause the body to become dehydrated, and this reduces coordination fast. Fine motor skills are needed in lots of industrial jobs, and this loss may cause all kinds of tragedies.
In response to the heat, the body naturally starts to sweat. Sweating is a good thing; a worker who is in high temperatures and not sweating is showing signs of severe heat illness. However, sweating does impact performance, and accidents can happen when hands slippery from sweat result in an accident.
Heat Accident Dangers Exist on All Kinds of Industry Worksites
As the OSHA High Heat NEP recognizes, high heat comes with all kinds of jobs here in Illinois and Indiana. A baker at Indiana commercial bakery has to deal with high temperatures as part of the job just like a steelworker on the job at Gary Works; a Project Rebuild Illinois construction worker; or someone making a living in our local warehousing and distribution facilities.
For instance, workers in the following industries are in danger of well-known accident risks just because they are working when temperatures are high and heat indices have hit 80°F or higher. Working in these industrial environments in high temperatures simply exacerbates the likelihood of harm to these workers. And the heat simultaneously boosts the safety duties of all those with possession, custody, or control of aspects of the jobsite to keep these people safe.
Construction Industry
Working construction in high temperatures may result in a greater risk of:
Fatal or Debilitating Falls
Heat may cause the construction worker to lose their balance on a ladder or scaffold, or a sweaty hand may slip the grip on a railing, causing the worker to lose their balance at a dangerous height.
Collisions Involving Heavy Machinery or Equipment
Heat impacts both the brain and the body, and construction workers on or near a crane, bulldozer, tractor, or truck can be seriously injured in a collision, struck-by, or crushing accident or from a dropped tool or piece of equipment.
Steel Industry
Working for one of our local steel mills, fabricators, and the like means the steel worker faces long established risks of injury on the job, and the industry is heavily regulated to keep workers safe. These dangers are even greater when high heat is involved:
Burns
Brain and body reactions to high temperatures on the job may cause a worker to make a mistake in calculations when operating things involving molten metal, like a ladle, causing fatal or horrific burns to that worker and others.
Falls
Workers in high heat in a steel facility may fall and suffer serious injury just because their body lacks sufficient hydration and no one has checked on dehydration risks (“dehydration cramping”).
Warehousing Industry
Warehousing (and distribution) is a huge and growing industry in Indiana and Illinois. The needs for these types of facilities are understandably high in our “Crossroads of America,” but working in high temperatures here comes with a rising risk of accident injuries:
Forklift and Industrial Truck Accidents
Workers impacted by high heat may have brain or body reactions slowed by the temperatures, resulting in serious accidents like tip-overs or collisions where the operator and others can suffer severe harm.
Falls
Loading docks as well as other places in the warehousing or distribution center may invite deadly or severe fall accidents when heat lowers the workers’ fine motor skills or lessens their ability to concentrate as they do things like loading pallets or dealing with blocked conveyor belts.
Manufacturing Industry
All sorts of factories and assembly lines are humming with activity during the day and night here in our communities. Factory workers coping with high temperatures are in a greater danger of being in a work accident:
Entangled, Crushed, Struck by Machinery
Factory workers are tasked with using all sorts of specialized machinery and equipment that can be very dangerous. Heat can lower their ability to think or to move, and severe work accidents can result. A worker may not prepare or use a safety guard properly, or they may not react fast enough to step back from a part that hits or crushes a body part.
Chemical Burns
Factories are also filled with dangerous hazardous chemicals and toxins. Heat may impair the worker’s awareness or reaction times. Leaking seals or tipping of containers can be deadly.
Duty to Protect Workers From Accidents Caused by Exposure to High Heat: Liability Under the Law
Employers, as well as other companies and individuals with possession, custody, or control of aspects of the worksite may have legal duties to keep workers safe from heat hazards that contribute or cause accidents on the job. Legal advocates and reconstructionists helping worker victims determine the reasons for their work accident may find liability based upon things like:
- The “General Duty Clause” found in Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, mandating that employers provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that includes high heat, whether the workplace is indoors or outdoors. This applies to all workers.
- There are also specific OSHA regulations that apply to the various industries that may be a part of the legal analysis of a particular accident. For instance, construction workers have protection under 29 CFR Part 1926 Subpart D (Environmental Controls), while the steel industry must comply with 29 CFR Part 1910 Subpart G (Ventilation).
- Additionally, there are industrial standards that can help define the legal duties of care in a work accident whose breach contributed to the heat-related accident. An example is ISO 45001, a worldwide recognized safety standard for workplace safety promulgated by the International Organization for Standardization.
Workers exposed to high heat that suffer bodily harm in an accident may have legal claims for relief independent of any benefits claimed under their employer’s workers’ compensation policy. These will be based upon state personal injury laws like negligence or premises liability, and will coordinate with demonstrations of regulatory and industrial standard violations of heat protection duties.
For more, read:
- Construction Work Accident Injury Claims and OSHA Regulations
- The Steel Industry is Dangerous: How Can Personal Injury Attorneys Help Steel Workers Hurt on the Job?
- List of Possible Warehouse Third-Party Injury Claims in Chicagoland Work Accidents
- Chicago Factory Worker Accidents: List of Civil Claim Damages Aside From Workers’ Compensation Benefits
- Hot Workplace: Injuries or Death from Heat Exposure in Indoor Work Environments.
Heat on the job is part of the daily lives of many industrial workers in Illinois and Indiana. High temperatures are dangerous, and workplaces remain so risky for high heat that OSHA has extended its National Emphasis Program for five years and for many more industrial worksites. Please be careful out there!
