Working in a care home can be physically demanding at any time of year. During a heatwave, personal care, moving and handling, cleaning, laundry work, kitchen duties and the use of personal protective equipment can increase the risk of dehydration, exhaustion and heat-related illness.
Keeping staff cool is not only important for their health and wellbeing. It also helps them remain alert, make safe decisions and provide good-quality care to residents.
Plan Ahead for Hot Weather
Care-home managers should prepare before temperatures rise rather than waiting until staff begin to feel unwell.
The home should monitor Heat-Health Alerts and local weather forecasts, identify rooms that become particularly hot and make sure staff understand the home’s hot-weather procedures. The UK Health Security Agency provides Heat-Health Alerts to warn health and social care services when forecast temperatures may affect health and wellbeing.
Preparations should include checking that:
- Fans, ventilation and cooling equipment are working
- Blinds and curtains can be closed against direct sunlight
- Cool drinking water is readily available
- Staff have access to a cooler rest area
- Enough staff are available to rotate demanding duties
- Employees know how to report heat-related concerns
- Managers know which staff may require additional support
Make Drinking Water Easily Available
Staff should have free and convenient access to cool drinking water throughout their shift. They should be encouraged to drink small amounts regularly rather than waiting until they feel very thirsty.
Covered drinks may be kept nearby where this is safe and does not conflict with infection-control, medicines-management or food-safety requirements.
Managers should make sure that drink breaks are possible for all staff, including those working in:
- Residents’ bedrooms
- Laundry rooms
- Kitchens
- Cleaning teams
- Personal-care areas
- Outdoor spaces
- Night shifts
Tea and coffee can contribute to fluid intake, but staff should also be encouraged to drink water or other suitable cool drinks regularly.
Provide More Frequent Rest Breaks
Working continuously in hot conditions can cause heat to build up in the body. Staff may need shorter, more frequent rest breaks during periods of extreme heat.
Rest areas should be as cool and well ventilated as possible. Staff should be allowed to sit down, drink and cool off before returning to physically demanding duties.
The Health and Safety Executive recommends providing cool drinking water, increasing rest breaks and rescheduling demanding work to cooler periods where possible.
Adjust Workloads and Duties
Care-home work cannot simply stop during a heatwave, but some tasks can be reorganised.
Managers should consider:
- Completing strenuous tasks during cooler parts of the day
- Rotating personal-care and moving-and-handling duties
- Postponing non-essential heavy cleaning
- Limiting unnecessary trips to hot laundry or kitchen areas
- Sharing demanding work between team members
- Providing additional support during busy periods
- Reducing the length of time spent outside
- Checking regularly on staff who are working alone
No employee should be expected to continue a physically demanding task when they are dizzy, faint, confused or otherwise unwell.
Keep Staff Areas Cool
Staff rooms, offices and rest areas should not be treated as an afterthought. Employees need somewhere suitable to recover during breaks.
To reduce indoor heat:
- Close blinds or curtains on sun-facing windows
- Keep unnecessary lights and electrical equipment switched off
- Open windows when the outdoor air is cooler than the air inside
- Use ventilation or air conditioning where available
- Position fans safely
- Move chairs and workstations away from direct sunlight
- Avoid using small, poorly ventilated rooms as rest spaces
Fans should be used in accordance with infection-prevention procedures. They must not blow contaminated air across residents, wounds, food or personal-care areas.
Review Uniform Requirements
Heavy or tight uniforms can make it harder for the body to release heat. During hot weather, staff should be permitted to wear the lightest suitable uniform allowed by the organisation’s policy.
Uniforms should be:
- Lightweight where possible
- Loose enough to allow movement and airflow
- Clean and changed when heavily soaked with sweat
- Suitable for maintaining dignity, safety and infection prevention
- Accompanied by safe, appropriate footwear
Managers should consider whether temporary uniform adjustments are possible during very hot weather. Any changes must still maintain professional, safety and infection-control standards.
Use PPE Only When It Is Required
Personal protective equipment can trap heat and reduce the evaporation of sweat. However, PPE must still be worn whenever it is required to protect staff or residents.
Managers should review whether PPE is necessary for each task and ensure it is not worn routinely when there is no identified need.
When PPE is required, staff may need:
- Shorter periods carrying out the task
- More frequent recovery breaks
- Time to cool down after removing PPE safely
- Access to replacement uniforms
- Duties rotated between team members
- Tasks rescheduled to cooler periods
Required PPE must not be removed partway through a task simply because the employee feels hot. The employee should finish or stop the task safely, remove PPE correctly and cool down in a suitable area.
Support Staff Who Are More Vulnerable
Some employees may be more affected by heat than others. This may include:
- Pregnant staff
- Older employees
- People with heart, lung or kidney conditions
- People with diabetes
- Employees taking certain medicines
- Staff who have recently been unwell
- New workers who are not accustomed to hot conditions
- Employees carrying out particularly strenuous work
Staff should be encouraged to speak privately with their manager when a health condition or medicine may increase their risk.
An individual risk assessment may identify reasonable adjustments, such as lighter duties, additional breaks, reduced time in hot rooms or temporary changes to working patterns.
Recognise the Early Signs of Heat Exhaustion
Staff and managers should know the warning signs of heat-related illness.
Heat exhaustion can cause:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Weakness or unusual tiredness
- Feeling sick or being sick
- Heavy sweating
- Pale or clammy skin
- Muscle cramps
- Extreme thirst
- Fast breathing
- A rapid heartbeat
- Irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
Changes in skin colour may be less noticeable on brown or black skin. Staff should also look for clamminess, sweating, changes in breathing, weakness and altered behaviour.
What to Do When a Staff Member Becomes Unwell
The person should stop working immediately and be moved to a cool place. Another member of staff should remain with them.
Remove unnecessary outer clothing and PPE when it is safe to do so. Offer cool water or a rehydration drink if the person is fully awake and able to swallow safely.
Cool the person by:
- Spraying or sponging the skin with cool water
- Using a fan safely
- Applying cold packs wrapped in cloth to the neck or under the arms
- Moving them away from direct sunlight and heat-producing equipment
A person with heat exhaustion should begin to improve after cooling and drinking fluids. They should not immediately return to strenuous duties, even when they start to feel better. NHS guidance advises cooling the person and giving fluids, with urgent action required when symptoms worsen or do not improve.
Know the Signs of Heatstroke
Heatstroke is a medical emergency. Possible signs include:
- A very high temperature
- Hot skin that is no longer sweating
- Confusion or severe restlessness
- Poor coordination
- Fast breathing
- A very fast heartbeat
- A seizure
- Loss of consciousness
- Failure to improve after approximately 30 minutes of cooling
Call 999 when heatstroke is suspected. Continue cooling the person while waiting for emergency assistance and follow the call handler’s instructions.
Encourage Staff to Speak Up
Staff should report excessive heat, broken cooling equipment, inadequate ventilation or symptoms of heat stress as soon as possible.
Employees should not feel that they must continue working until they collapse. Early reporting allows managers to adjust duties and prevent a minor problem from becoming a medical emergency.
Employers must manage risks from workplace temperatures and provide a reasonable indoor working temperature and clean, fresh air. Although there is no fixed legal maximum workplace temperature, this does not remove the employer’s responsibility to protect staff.
A Staff Heat-Safety Checklist
During a heatwave, managers should make sure that:
- Cool drinking water is freely available
- Staff receive regular drink and recovery breaks
- Physically demanding duties are rotated
- Cooler rest areas are provided
- Sun-facing blinds and curtains are closed
- Uniform and PPE requirements are reviewed
- Vulnerable employees receive individual support
- Staff understand the symptoms of heat exhaustion
- Employees know when and how to report concerns
- Emergency procedures are understood by the whole team
The Key Message
Keeping care-home staff cool requires planning, flexibility and regular communication.
Easy access to drinks, cooler rest areas, appropriate uniforms, sensible workloads and prompt action when someone becomes unwell can greatly reduce the risk of heat-related illness. Protecting staff during a heatwave also helps ensure that residents continue to receive safe, attentive and compassionate care.