Wooden letter dice spelling RISK, illustrating climate risks and workplace safety

Climate Risks and Workplace Safety: How Can European Companies Prepare for Extreme Events?

3 days ago

10 min read

Is your organisation ready to manage climate risks that could threaten people's safety and business continuity? AR19 helps organisations assess risks, strengthen a culture of prevention and integrate safety, environment and sustainability into business strategy.

Climate risks and workplace safety present a growing challenge for European companies. Extreme temperatures, severe weather and changing environmental conditions are reshaping workers' exposure to occupational hazards. The consequences affect not only people's health, but also work organisation, productivity and business continuity.

According to EU-OSHA, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, around one third of workers in the European Union face risks such as extreme heat, severe weather or poor air quality. Some 31% express concern about how these factors could affect their health and safety.

The latest European publications from 2026 confirm the need to evolve prevention systems. Companies must consider how climate change affects operating conditions, risk perception and day-to-day decisions.

In this article, we examine the main emerging risks, the European regulatory framework and the strategies organisations can use to integrate climate adaptation into their HSE management systems, leadership and business processes.

At a glance

Climate change is increasing and reshaping occupational health and safety risks across Europe. To address them, companies need to assess specific exposures, update preventive measures, adapt work organisation and prepare for extreme events. An effective approach combines risk assessment, training, worker participation, leadership and leading indicators, making climate adaptation a permanent part of business management.

Why has climate change become a workplace safety risk?

Climate change has become an occupational risk factor because it alters the environmental conditions in which people work. The issue goes beyond rising temperatures. It also includes the intensification of certain extreme weather events, changes in air quality and emerging exposures that may amplify existing hazards.

The European State of the Climate 2025 report, published by Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization in 2026, shows that at least 95% of Europe experienced above-average annual temperatures in 2025. It also highlights exceptional heatwaves, wildfires and significant environmental anomalies.

The impact on work is becoming increasingly significant in economic terms. In a publication dated 9 October 2026, the European Commission estimates that productivity losses caused by heat stress alone could reach around 1% by 2050 and 2.5% by 2080 under the scenarios analysed.

These estimates describe potential aggregate effects on the labour market, not losses that automatically apply to individual companies. They nevertheless demonstrate why businesses need to consider climate conditions in their organisational decisions.

For a company, a climate event can simultaneously change safety conditions, workforce availability, infrastructure reliability and production schedules. Prevention must therefore evolve beyond managing isolated emergencies towards a more structured assessment of risks and their possible interactions.

What are the main climate risks for workers?

The main climate risks for workers include heat stress, ultraviolet radiation, extreme weather events, deteriorating air quality and changes in exposure to biological agents. Their significance depends on the sector, working environment and nature of the activities.

Occupational heat stress is one of the most immediate hazards. Exposure to high temperatures, especially during physically demanding work, can cause dehydration, fatigue, heat exhaustion and, in the most serious cases, heatstroke. Indoor workers may also face these risks, for example in industrial environments with high-temperature processes or inadequate cooling systems.

UV radiation is another exposure factor for people working outdoors. It increases the risk of damage to the skin and eyes and calls for specific preventive measures, regardless of how hot conditions feel.

Floods, storms and wildfires can cause direct accidents, interrupt operations and create hazards during emergency response and recovery. Smoke, dust and allergens can also reduce air quality and worsen certain respiratory conditions.

In its report Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate, the International Labour Organization also identifies vector-borne diseases and risks associated with certain chemical exposures.

Together, these hazards demand a broader perspective than traditional summer heat management. Companies need to understand which climate scenarios could affect their operations and how those scenarios interact with existing occupational risks.

Which sectors and groups of workers face the greatest exposure?

Workers most exposed to climate risks often work in agriculture, construction, maintenance, transport, emergency services and industrial activities involving heavy physical workloads or high heat exposure. Yet exposure does not depend on the sector alone: actual tasks, environmental conditions and work organisation matter most.

According to the European OSH Pulse 2025 survey, agriculture, forestry and fishing show particularly high levels of exposure to extreme heat. Construction, energy supply, extraction and infrastructure-related services also face significant exposure.

Indoor activities can present serious challenges too. Warehouse operatives, production workers and healthcare personnel may work in environments that retain heat or require prolonged use of protective equipment.

An EU-OSHA publication dated 18 September 2026 also draws attention to inequalities in exposure to climate risks. Age, gender, employment status, migration status and socioeconomic circumstances can all influence vulnerability, alongside actual working conditions.

This evidence creates a clear organisational responsibility for companies: they must not assume that all workers face the same conditions.

Employers need to assess real tasks, shifts, experience, language skills, acclimatisation and any relevant individual factors, while respecting confidentiality and involving the appropriate occupational health professionals.

Temporary workers and contractors require particular attention. When several organisations share the same workplace, effective prevention depends on consistent information, coordination and rules that protect everyone exposed.

What legal obligations do European companies have when assessing climate risks?

European companies must assess and manage climate risks whenever those risks could compromise workers' health and safety. This responsibility follows the general principles of occupational risk prevention, although specific requirements differ among Member States.

The main European legal reference is Framework Directive 89/391/EEC, which introduces measures to encourage improvements in workers' safety and health at work.

Article 6 requires employers to take necessary preventive measures and adapt them when circumstances change. Article 9 requires risk assessment, including risks affecting particularly exposed groups of workers. Article 8 addresses, among other matters, preparedness for serious and imminent dangers.

The European framework does not set one universally applicable maximum temperature for every type of work. Some countries have specific rules or guidance, depending on the activity and working environment. Companies must therefore check the relevant national legislation and any applicable sector agreements.

Heat-risk assessment cannot rely on air temperature alone. It must also consider humidity, ventilation, radiant heat, physical workload, exposure duration, clothing and opportunities for recovery.

Companies operating across several European countries should establish consistent group-wide prevention criteria while adapting them to local legal requirements and the conditions at each site.

Regulatory compliance is therefore the starting point. Effective prevention depends on the ability to turn risk assessments into operational decisions, clear responsibilities and measures that people apply in practice.

How can companies prevent climate risks in the workplace?

Preventing climate risks requires a combination of technical, organisational and training measures. These measures should reduce exposure at source, protect people and adapt work to environmental conditions, in line with the hierarchy of controls.

For heat risk, EU-OSHA technical guidance recommends measures such as improving ventilation, shielding heat sources, providing cool areas and reducing physical workloads through engineering solutions.

When engineering controls cannot eliminate the risk completely, organisations need to change how work is performed. They can schedule demanding tasks during cooler hours, introduce suitable breaks, rotate tasks and ensure access to drinking water.

Companies should also establish procedures to recognise symptoms of heat-related illness and respond promptly. Workers need to know when to report a critical condition and which actions to take.

For extreme weather events, companies should focus on preparing for relevant scenarios through alert systems, criteria for suspending activities, infrastructure protection and coordination between emergency teams.

Consider a construction company working on multiple sites across Europe. A common procedure can define responsibilities and response levels, but each site still needs measures tailored to local conditions and the work being carried out.

Prevention then becomes more than an immediate response. It becomes a process that connects environmental information, planning, resources and adaptive capacity.

How do climate risks affect human factors and business decisions?

Climate risks affect human factors because adverse environmental conditions can reduce attention, increase fatigue and undermine people's ability to make safe decisions. These effects are particularly important in high-risk activities and work environments under intense operational pressure.

EU-OSHA highlights that heat stress can impair judgement and increase the risk of accidents. The issue extends beyond the physical consequences of exposure to the way people interpret situations and make decisions at work.

A fatigued operator may struggle to recognise an anomaly. A supervisor under pressure to meet a deadline may underestimate worsening environmental conditions. A team that rarely stops work may continue even when warning signs emerge.

These examples show why technical measures, although essential, are not enough on their own. Organisations also need to develop decision-making skills, communication and risk awareness.

This is where human factors meet organisational safety culture. A mature organisation does more than ask people to follow a procedure. It creates the conditions for people to recognise hazards, raise concerns and take appropriate action.

This principle underpins safety culture development programmes, through which AR19 connects risk perception, behaviours, leadership and performance improvement.

What role do leadership and safety culture play in climate adaptation?

Leadership and safety culture are essential to climate adaptation because they turn prevention measures into consistent decisions and behaviours. Managers need to integrate environmental conditions into planning, while supervisors and workers must recognise risk signals early.

Leadership becomes especially important when prevention conflicts with immediate operational demands. Postponing a task, changing a shift or stopping work may lead to costs and delays. But continuing without adequate safety conditions can have far more serious consequences.

Management must establish clear decision-making criteria and make sure people can apply them without undue pressure.

At operational level, tools such as safety dialogues, field observations and team discussions help organisations understand how procedures work in real conditions.

Training must also address behavioural aspects: hazard perception, anomaly reporting, managing uncertainty and acting appropriately when conditions change.

Worker participation is another essential element. People who perform tasks every day often hold valuable information about environmental conditions, the limitations of existing measures and possible solutions.

Involving people does not mean transferring responsibility for prevention to them. It means improving the quality of information and organisational decisions.

Safety culture thus becomes an adaptation tool: it helps companies identify change sooner and respond consistently, without relying exclusively on individual initiative.

How can digital technologies and KPIs help anticipate climate risks?

Digital technologies and leading KPIs can help companies anticipate climate risks by monitoring exposure, identifying critical conditions and checking whether preventive measures work.

In June 2026, EU-OSHA published an analysis of smart technologies for preventing heat-related risks. Sensors, wearable devices and monitoring systems can provide up-to-date information about environmental conditions and support more targeted assessments.

However, access to data does not automatically improve prevention. Organisations must decide what information to collect, how to interpret it and which actions to trigger when risk conditions emerge.

Personal data protection and worker participation also deserve attention. Monitoring must pursue clear, proportionate objectives and comply with the applicable requirements.

Alongside digital tools, leading indicators play an important role. They help organisations monitor preventive conditions before harmful events occur.

KPIs an organisation may consider include:

the percentage of climate-exposed activities covered by an up-to-date risk assessment;
the number of reports of critical environmental conditions and the quality of follow-up actions;
compliance with planned preventive measures;
the time taken to implement corrective actions;
worker participation in training and prevention activities.

Organisations should interpret these indicators alongside accident data, absence rates and operational disruptions. No single KPI can prove that risk is under control.

The goal is not to collect more data. It is to improve the organisation's ability to use that data for timely decisions.

How can companies build a climate risk adaptation plan?

A corporate climate risk adaptation plan should begin with an analysis of exposure and lead to preventive measures, operational responsibilities and periodic reviews. It must align with the company's safety management system and its actual operating conditions.

The first step is to identify the most exposed activities and the climate scenarios relevant to each site. Not every business faces the same hazards, and not every task calls for the same priorities.
Next, management should assess whether existing measures are adequate. The analysis may reveal technical gaps, insufficient procedures, coordination problems or behaviours that increase exposure.
On this basis, companies can define actions with clear responsibilities, resources and implementation timelines. The plan must include the required skills, worker involvement and ways to verify the effectiveness of each measure.
An often overlooked element is the relationship between climate risk and business continuity. Extreme temperatures, floods and wildfires may affect people, facilities, transport and suppliers at the same time.

The plan should therefore connect with risk management and business continuity processes, preventing business functions from developing isolated responses.

As discussed in AR19's article on risk management, operational resilience and sustainability, effective risk management depends on connecting governance, processes, people and performance.

Climate adaptation requires the same integration. An effective roadmap is not a static document: it must evolve through reviews, simulations, incident analysis and updates to exposure conditions.

Conclusion: Integrating climate risk into safety and sustainability strategies

Climate risks require European companies to reassess their prevention practices in practical terms. The starting point is not to introduce more procedures indiscriminately, but to understand which exposures could affect people, processes and critical activities.

AR19 addresses these risks through an integrated approach to risk management, organisational culture and sustainability. Its expertise in assessment, human factors, safety leadership and predictive KPIs can help organisations develop adaptation programmes aligned with their specific characteristics.

The AR19 7Steps_Method© methodology connects initial assessment, people engagement, organisational development, performance measurement and strategic review. Applying these principles to climate risks means responding to environmental change by strengthening organisational capability.

To explore potential interventions, discover AR19's services for coaching, psychology and behaviours in risk management.

The ability to adapt to a changing climate does not depend only on technology or infrastructure. It also depends on decision quality, people readiness and the organisation's ability to recognise risks before they undermine safety and business continuity.

FAQs on climate risks and workplace safety

Must employers update their risk assessments for extreme heat?

Employers must assess heat risk whenever it could compromise workers' health and safety. They must also update preventive measures when exposure conditions change. Specific documentation requirements and procedures depend on the applicable national legislation.

Is there a maximum temperature above which working is prohibited in Europe?

There is no single temperature limit that applies to every job and every EU Member State. Some countries provide specific limits or guidance. An assessment must also consider humidity, radiant heat, physical effort, exposure duration and individual worker characteristics.

What is the difference between climate risk and corporate environmental risk?

Climate risk arises from climate-related events or changing climate conditions that may affect people, operations and infrastructure. Corporate environmental risk is broader and may also include pollution incidents and the organisation's impacts on the environment. These areas can overlap and require coordinated management.

Are indoor workers also exposed to climate risks?

Yes. Indoor workers may experience the effects of high temperatures, especially in poorly ventilated spaces, inadequately cooled buildings or industrial operations with significant heat sources. Power outages and extreme weather events can also compromise workplace safety.

What are the first steps for preparing a company for climate risks?

The first steps include identifying exposed roles, assessing risks, reviewing preventive measures and establishing procedures for critical conditions. Companies should also train employees, involve supervisors and monitor the effectiveness of interventions through appropriate indicators.