Greenwood Law principal Jessyca Greenwood was recently quoted in The Hamilton Spectator on employers’ legal responsibilities during extreme heat, explaining what Ontario law requires when temperatures and humidex values climb.
Extreme Heat and Ontario Employer Safety Duties
As Environment Canada issued a multi-day heat warning for the Hamilton area, with humidex values past 45, the story looked at how the City of Hamilton and local sports associations modified or postponed outdoor programming, and at what the law expects of employers whose staff work in the heat.
Speaking to The Spectator, Jessyca Greenwood emphasized that workers must be kept “both physically safe, and psychologically safe,” and that an employer relying on staff to do physical work outdoors in those conditions needs a heat safety plan with genuine opportunities to cool down and rehydrate. While Ontario sets no maximum workplace temperature, employers still carry a general duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to take every reasonable precaution to protect workers, a topic we cover in more detail in our overview of Ontario employer responsibilities for workplace heat safety.
