Combatting Heat Stress in the Workplace: A Roadmap for Employers and Employees
Working in extreme heat isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s dangerous. As temperatures continue to rise across the Midwest, combatting heat stress in the workplace becomes increasingly challenging. As such, more workers in Chicago are suffering serious, sometimes life-threatening, heat-related illnesses and injuries on the job.
If you’ve suffered heat stroke, exhaustion, or any other heat-related condition due to your job, don’t navigate the process alone. Call DePaolo Zadeikis & Pino at 312-263-7560 for a free consultation. We’ll help you get the workers’ compensation benefits you’re entitled to receive.
In the meantime, here’s what Chicago workers should know about heat stress on the job, common injuries, and how to take action if you’ve been affected.
What Is Heat Stress, and What Are Its Effects?
Heat stress is the burden on your body from metabolic heat, environmental heat, and even your work gear—leading to an unsafe rise in body temperature. Over time, this heat buildup can lead to serious medical conditions, or even death. Heat stress triggers heat exhaustion, cramps, rashes, and acute emergencies like heat stroke, which is life-threatening.
Recent research shows heat-related illnesses also impair cognitive performance. Simple tasks might look easy, but complex decision-making tanks under heat and humidity. That cognitive drop-off can lead to serious accidents at work.
Who Is Most at Risk for Heat Stress at Work?
While any worker exposed to hot conditions can suffer heat stress, certain groups are more vulnerable. These include:
- Outdoor workers: Construction crews, landscapers, delivery drivers, farmers
- Workers required to wear heavy protective gear: Firefighters, factory workers,
- Vulnerable groups: New or temporary employees, older workers, those with pre-existing health conditions
- Medicated workers: Individuals taking medications that affect hydration or circulation
- Indoor frontline workers: Those in kitchens, boiler rooms, foundries, mills
Workers who perform tasks in unventilated indoor environments are often overlooked in heat stress cases, even though the danger is just as real as for outdoor crews.
Recognizing the Warning Signs of Heat Stress in the Workplace
Don’t ignore mild symptoms of heat stress at work. Heat-related illness often sneaks up on people who try to push themselves to keep going.
- Heavy sweating, pale/clammy skin, fatigue, cramps, nausea, and dizziness are all signs of heat exhaustion. First aid involves moving to cool spaces, sipping water, and mild cooling.
- A medical emergency, symptoms like extremely hot or dry skin, confusion, fainting, loss of consciousness, and even seizures indicate heat stroke. Call 911 immediately.
- Foggy thinking, reaction slowdown, mistakes, and cognitive decline are not textbook symptoms—yet they’re often the first indicator before breakdowns happen.
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Can You File for Workers’ Compensation for Heat Stress?
Yes. Illinois workers’ compensation laws cover heat-related injuries and illnesses when they arise out of and in the course of your employment. This includes both immediate injuries—like collapse due to heat stroke—and longer-term health issues, such as organ damage or chronic fatigue related to repeated exposure.
You don’t have to prove that your employer was negligent. You only need to show that your condition was work-related.
Heat-Related Illnesses That May Be Covered by Workers’ Compensation in Illinois
If you were diagnosed with any heat-related illness or injury as a result of your job duties or work environment, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, even if your symptoms didn’t appear right away.
Common heat-related conditions that may warrant a workers’ comp claim include:
- Heat Exhaustion: Without intervention, this can escalate to more serious illness.
- Heat Stroke: A medical emergency, heat stroke can be deadly if not treated promptly.
- Heat Cramps: Muscle pain or spasms due to salt and fluid loss can cause serious workplace accidents.
- Heat Rash: Skin irritation from excessive sweating may seem like a minor injury, but it could lead to severe infection if not addressed.
- Dehydration and Kidney Issues: Long-term exposure to heat without adequate fluid intake can affect internal organs.
- Worsening of Existing Conditions: Heart disease, diabetes, or asthma can be aggravated by extreme heat exposure.
What Benefits Are Available?
If your heat-related illness is accepted as a work injury, you may be entitled to a wide range of workers’ comp benefits.
- Medical expenses: Including ER visits, follow-up care, hospitalization, and prescriptions.
- Temporary total disability (TTD): Wage replacement while you’re unable to work.
- Permanent partial or total disability: If the heat illness caused lasting damage or limited your ability to work in the future.
- Vocational rehabilitation: Training or job placement services if you can’t return to your previous job due to medical restrictions.
If you suffered heat-related illness or injury on the job, contact DePaolo Zadeikis & Pino now for a free consultation. We’ll help you stay cool under pressure—and fight for what’s right.
