Regulator is calling on employers to prepare now for heat stress, but researchers say the rules haven't kept pace with the climate
With summer temperatures rising across British Columbia, WorkSafeBC is calling on employers to address heat stress and other warm-weather hazards before conditions turn dangerous. The warning comes as a new report from an independent think-tank argues that the province's occupational heat regulations are overdue for a fundamental overhaul, and as the broader climate context grows harder to ignore.
This week, a heat dome pushed temperatures to record levels across much of Europe, with climate scientists telling the Associated Press that heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense, and longer-lasting as a result of human-caused climate change. Closer to home, Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, has warned that a "super-charged" El Niño system is on the way, bringing warmer temperatures and a heightened risk of wildfires to Canada. For B.C. employers and the workers they are responsible for protecting, that backdrop sharpens the urgency of assessing climate risks at work.
"We believe that if employers plan ahead, they involve workers, and have done a hazard analysis, they are better prepared to have controls in place when it really gets hot and intolerable," said Sandeep Mangat, manager for Prevention Field Services at WorkSafeBC, British Columbia's workplace safety regulator.
WorkSafeBC's message is practical and immediate: assess your workplace now, involve your joint health and safety committee, and have a plan in place before a heat wave or wildfire smoke event forces a reactive response. The regulator has documented 315 heat-related injury claims between 2020 and 2024, with the highest numbers in transportation, public works, construction, food services, and the film industry, according to a June 2026 report by BC Policy Solutions, a non-partisan B.C. think-tank.
What officers will check this summer
WorkSafeBC Prevention Field Services officers will conduct unannounced inspections at road work, construction, public works, and agriculture sites throughout the summer months. Mangat said officers are looking for evidence that employers have done more than simply react to conditions on the day.
"We look for pre-planning. We look at whether employers have done a hazard analysis, involving workers and the joint committee to make sure that workers understand the risk," he said. "For example, they're looking at the environmental conditions, what are the physical demands of the work, what kind of clothing and personal protective equipment they might require, looking at workers' health, fitness, and status, and also if they are on certain medications that can impact severely working outdoors."
Inspectors will also verify that employers are providing cool drinking water, adequate rest breaks, job rotation, and access to shaded or cooled recovery areas. For wildfire smoke, employers must monitor air quality and ensure that any respirators in use are approved and properly fit-tested. Workers with pre-existing breathing disorders or allergies face compounded risks when particulate matter is in the air.
Both indoor and outdoor workers can be affected. Heat stress is a recognized risk in kitchens, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities without air conditioning, in addition to outdoor industries. According to WorkSafeBC, outdoor workers in Canada are 3.5 times more at risk of UV-related harm than indoor workers, making sun protection part of the same summer planning conversation. Safety professionals can review WorkSafeBC's guidance on heat stress planning and summer inspections at thesafetymag.com.
A regulatory gap in the background
While WorkSafeBC focuses on employer readiness, a report published this week by BC Policy Solutions raises a parallel concern: that the regulations underpinning those employer obligations have not been updated since 2005. The report, authored by Susanna Klassen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Victoria, and Anelyse M. Weiler, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Victoria, draws on 50 interviews with union representatives, occupational health experts, researchers, and policy experts across B.C. and several U.S. jurisdictions.
Its lead recommendation is that WorkSafeBC implement a clear "trigger temperature" approach, a predetermined threshold at which specific protective measures come into effect automatically. Most U.S. states use this model. B.C. does not, relying instead on a system the report describes as unclear for both workers and employers. The report also calls for stronger protections for migrant and precarious agricultural workers, improved enforcement mechanisms, and urgent action given the pace of climate change.
WorkSafeBC told CBC News it is undertaking a review of its climate and heat exposure regulations as part of its 2024–2026 Regulatory Workplan, though work remains in preliminary stages. The stakes are significant: between 2001 and 2021, B.C. workers faced risks of heat-related illness 4.33 times higher during heatwaves compared to non-heatwave days, according to a 2024 study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health (Guo et al., 2024).
Planning ahead, not reacting
Mangat said the most common failure he observes in the field is not negligence but a lack of advance thinking. Well-intentioned employers who skip thorough hazard analysis find themselves unprepared when temperatures spike.
"It's easy to put in controls, but they miss out on that because they haven't planned that very well," he said. "So a simple control: when you know that it's going to get really hot, how about making sure that there is less demand on the worker in terms of maybe starting early, or maybe not working during the hotter part of the day? Just simple things about ensuring that workers are getting those adequate breaks, provision of cool potable water."
He pointed to agriculture workers in B.C.'s Fraser Valley as a group currently facing acute conditions. "Some of them are working on piece rate with the harvesting of berries. These workers are working in hard conditions and sometimes they're working during the hottest part of the day, between one and three," he said. "So taking adequate breaks, making sure there's job rotation, cooling areas. Some employers provide misting areas. They're also providing cold water."
For employers who want to get ahead of the heat, WorkSafeBC offers a heat stress screening tool. "Instead of having a knee-jerk reaction at the last moment, it's good to plan before. Ensure that you have the systems in place, involve workers, and then you're cognizant of the fact that these are the things that can really exacerbate the condition," added Mangat.
