The Met Office issued its first ever extreme heat warning this week, having introduced the new category in June, warning of health risks across the west of England and Wales. High temperatures might be fun on the beach, but thousands of key workers will face unbearable working conditions. The heat should be a wake-up call for the government to make work safer now, and take climate action that creates sustainable and long-lasting working conditions into the future.

In this heat, today, people are harvesting raspberries and strawberries, packing deliveries in warehouses and distribution centres, delivering food and documents on bikes and mopeds. Some of them will have to do these jobs without regular breaks or access to drinking water. Some are required to wear uniforms designed for much cooler weather. Many are the same low-paid key workers who risked infection getting us through the pandemic, and are now exposed to dangerous temperatures.

Extreme heat can cause exhaustion, fainting, dehydration and bring on strokes and heart attacks, especially when working under pressure. It can increase industrial accidents, as concentration levels wane at high temperatures. Sun exposure brings additional risks: 4,500 cases of skin cancer each year in this country are thought to be the result of outdoor working. The biggest problems are often in manufacturing plants, catering sites and warehouses with a high proportion of low-paid workers: sweatshops in more ways than one.