New Delhi: The government has asked all states and Union Territories (UTs) to implement urgent and coordinated measures to protect workers from heat stress.
The order follows a Mint report, which appeared in Tuesday’s edition, highlighting the growing toll of extreme heatwaves on India’s workforce, particularly in labour-intensive manufacturing sectors.
In a letter sent on Tuesday to all chief secretaries and administrators, the labour and employment ministry directed authorities to issue clear instructions to employers, occupiers, industries, and construction firms to take necessary steps to safeguard workers from rising temperatures.
Mint reported that as summer arrives ahead of schedule, forecasts of intense heatwaves are raising alarms across the nation’s industrial heartlands.
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With millions of workers toiling in factories and mines without protection from the heat, industry experts warn that soaring temperatures could throttle productivity, risking a slowdown in India’s vital manufacturing sector.
The weather office – India Metrological Department (IMD) – has issued heatwave alerts for south Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, southern Haryana, and Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region over multiple days until 24 April.
For most of the country, relief is unlikely until the monsoon rains arrive. Labour-intensive sectors like textiles, leather and small-scale engineering are expected to bear the brunt of the heatwaves, experts said.
Government advisory
The government advisory recommends a multi-sectoral response and lists several mitigation strategies, including rescheduling working hours, ensuring access to clean drinking water, improving ventilation at worksites, setting up rest areas, and arranging regular health check-ups.
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“Employers have also been urged to provide heat illness prevention materials such as ice packs and oral rehydration salts, especially for outdoor workers in construction and brick kilns,” the ministry’s letter stated.
For high-risk sectors like mining and manufacturing, the letter advises factory and mine managements to allow a slower work pace, introduce flexible shifts, deploy two-person teams during extreme heat, and ensure proper ventilation, particularly in underground operations.
Awareness and education also form a key part of the ministry’s response. Institutions under the Ministry of Labour and Employment—including the Directorate General of Labour Welfare (DGLW), Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) (CLC), Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), V.V. Giri National Labour Institute (VVGNLI), and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)—have been instructed to conduct awareness drives and include specific modules on heatwave management in their training programmes.
These efforts aim to educate workers about the causes and symptoms of heat stress, preventive strategies, and ways to stay safe during extreme weather conditions.
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Rise in temperatures
The rise in temperatures is hitting hardest at factories that operate furnaces, boilers, and other heat-generating equipment. Steel production requires melting raw materials at temperatures above 1,500°C before refining and casting them into shapes. Likewise, the manufacturing of engineering goods involves heat-intensive processes such as casting, forging, and welding.
There is no immediate relief in sight either. IMD has projected a gradual increase of 2-3°C in maximum temperatures across northwest India, comprising the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, over the next five days.
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According to IMD, central India may see a rise of 2–3°C in temperatures after the next 24 hours, while eastern India is likely to experience a sharper increase of 4–6°C over the following four days. Temperatures are currently hovering between 35°C and 40°C, and in the coming days, they may rise further to around 44°C.
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