Personal protective equipment and heat: risk of heat stress

We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. This is an urgent public health message to health and care providers and professionals regarding the risk of heat stress when using PPE. Get emails about this page Applies to England Print this page Summary This week temperatures are set to be very high. The UK Health Security Agency ( UKHSA ) has issued a Red Heat Health Alert ( HHA ). See the Heat health alerts data dashboard for more details on the affected areas and alert times. A red extreme heat warning has also been issued by the Met Office National Severe Weather Warning Service. Wearing personal protective equipment ( PPE ) in warm or hot environments increases the risk of heat stress. This occurs when the body is unable to cool itself enough to maintain a healthy temperature. Heat stress can cause heat exhaustion and lead to heat stroke if the person is unable to cool down. Measures should be put in place to control the temperature in clinical and care environments. Staff should also be supported to adapt their behaviour to stay cool and well hydrated. Staff may require more frequent breaks and the frequency of PPE changes are likely to increase, with a resulting increase in demand. Assess the risk of overheating in your workplace and consider implementation of appropriate control measures. Consider environmental control measures first (for example, remove or reduce the sources of heat and improve ventilation, where possible). Consult the Adverse Weather and Health Plan for England. If you don’t already receive UKHSA /Met Office heat-health alerts , sign up for these so that you are up to date on latest alert levels for your area. Ensure that all staff are aware of the risk of heat stress when wearing PPE and know how to reduce their risk. Satisfy yourself that there is a cascade in place to ensure that frontline staff receive the alerts and information they need to stay safe. Ensure that PPE supplies are sufficient to cover a likely increase in demand for certain PPE items during hot weather due to staff changing equipment more frequently. Consider whether more staff may be needed per shift to maintain service levels while accommodating increased staff breaks. Consider whether some staff are more vulnerable to the effects of heat and manage this appropriately . Any actions taken must be aligned with local infection prevention and control policies and national guidance. See: Staff working in warm or hot conditions should: Hospitals and other care settings in England are at risk of overheating in warm weather. During summer 2022, 50.2% of trusts reported having at least one incident of overheating, and 5% of trusts reported over 50 incidents ( 1 ). Occupational heat strain is associated with productivity loss and has an impact on the health of those affected ( 2 ). Employers have a responsibility to ensure a reasonable working temperature in workrooms and local heating or cooling where a comfortable temperature cannot be maintained ( 3 ). Adequate ventilation can impact the risk of heat stress for those working in warm or hot conditions. Ventilation should inform your assessment of the risk and selection of measures to control the potential for heat stress. Health and care staff, including ambulance staff, may be required to wear PPE for infection prevention and control purposes. The PPE required is specified for different settings and activities in line with national guidance. This can effectively require them to wear PPE for the entirety of their clinical work. Wearing PPE in warm or hot environments increases the risk of heat str