Rising temperatures are increasing the risk of heat stress for Australian workers. The REFRESH project is developing practical, evidence-based solutions to help workers stay safe, healthy and productive in increasingly hot environments.
As Australia’s climate continues to warm, protecting workers from extreme heat is becoming an urgent workplace health, safety and public health priority. Workers in physically demanding industries such as emergency services, construction, agriculture and mining are among those most vulnerable to heat stress. Rising temperatures increase the risk of dehydration, fatigue, heat-related illness and workplace accidents, while also reducing productivity and placing growing pressure on employers and the broader economy.
The REFRESH project combines occupational health science with practical interventions to reduce heat strain , improve recovery and safeguard workers in increasingly hot environments.
About the study
Led by Associate Professor Luana Main, the REFRESH project will:
- Select and evaluate practical evidence-based interventions
Investigate strategies to reduce heat-related fatigue and improve recovery, such as cooling protocols, hydration strategies, and other solutions tailored to Australian working conditions. - Enhance workforce resilience
By creating evidence-based guidelines that help workers adapt safely to hotter climates while maintaining health, safety and productivity. - Support policy and practice change
Findings will inform occupational health standards, employer practices, and national guidance for managing heat stress in physically demanding jobs.
“To build a resilient workforce in a warming climate, we need cooling and recovery strategies that are not only effective, but feasible and acceptable in real workplaces.”
Potential benefits
- Protect worker health and safety: Reduce heat strain, fatigue and the risk of heat‑related illness and workplace accidents.
- Support industry productivity: Identify practical strategies that help workers maintain performance in hot conditions while reducing heat‑related impacts on productivity.
- Strengthen climate resilience: Provide evidence to support safer workplaces and inform future occupational heat‑management policies and guidelines.
Join the study!
The research team is inviting participants to join a study to understand how heat and hot working environments affect Australian workers in different jobs across multiple sectors.
If you are aged 18 or over and working in Australia, in either a paid or voluntary position, please complete a short, anonymous, online survey.
Take the survey
Publications
Read more about the project in a series published in Open Access Government.
- Main LC. Protection from occupational heat stress amid rising global temperatures. Open Access Government. 2025:pp.362-3.
- Main LC, Caldwell JN. Heat stress and older workers: Addressing the safety gap. Open Access Government 2026:40-1.
- Main LC, Convit L. Women and heat stress: A silent risk in the climate-exposed workforce. Open Access Government 2025.
- Moore D, Main LC. Working consecutive days in the heat: What does the evidence really tell us? Open Access Government. 2026:134-5.
Find out more
Email refresh_workers@deakin.edu.au to learn more about this research, or if you have questions about the study.
Project funding
NHMRC 2024 TCR Climate-related health impacts and effective interventions to improve health outcomes (2038163), five years (2025-2030)