Japanese firms take steps to protect outdoor workers as heatwave sizzles on

Record ID: 1987446

  • Title: Japanese firms take steps to protect outdoor workers as heatwave sizzles on
  • Date: 7th July 2025
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 7, 2025) (REUTERS) WORKERS WORKING AT CONSTRUCTION SITE WORKER SETTING UP PLATE ON SCAFFOLDING VARIOUS OF WORKERS SORTING OUT MATERIALS WHILE WEARING VESTS EQUIPPED WITH FANS VARIOUS OF WORKER WORKING IN JACKET WITH BATTERY-POWERED FANS FAN SPINNING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 47-YEAR-OLD CONSTRUCTION WORKER, ATSUSHI MIZUTANI, SAYING: “It feels totally differ
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Japan constuction site heat heatstroke alert heatwave weather workers
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Climate Adaptation and Solution,Climate Change,Environment,General News
  • Reuters ID: LVA001783307072025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:At an apartment construction site in Tokyo, where temperatures soared above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time this year on Monday (July 7), workers for Daito Trust Construction donned puffy air-conditioned jackets equipped with cooling fans on their back while at work.
    The custom-made jacket, which the construction company developed with a construction supplies manufacturer, uses the thermoelectric effect to enhance the cooling effect and has been distributed to 1,500 workers.
    "When I wear this vest, I don't sweat as much, so I don't lose physical strength," said 47-year-old construction worker Atsushi Mizutani.
    The fan-equipped jacket is one of the solutions designed to help workers cope with the scorching heat, as temperatures soar to the highest this season in the nation's capital, and hot and humid conditions make working outside vulnerable to risk of heatstroke.
    The heatstroke alerts were issued in 30 out of 47 prefectures nationwide, the most this season, caused by a prolonged heatwave that grips much of the country, following the hottest June on record for the country.
    The extreme heat, which has become a norm in summertime Japan, has developed into a major workplace hazard that the government had rolled out labour safety regulations from this June requiring companies to implement protection measures against heatstroke.
    Construction workers are particularly at risk of heatstroke that they accounted for nearly 20% of deaths or becoming ill due to heatstroke in the workplace in 2023, the labour ministry data showed. The overall number of heatstroke cases at work more than doubled that year from a decade ago.
    "In the past, we didn't wear air-conditioned jackets or anything like that and there weren't as many cases of people collapsing (due to heat stroke) as there are now. In recent years, air-conditioned jumpers and other such items have become a necessity, which makes me realise just how hot it gets," said Takami Okamura, 57, who has been a construction worker for 34 years.
    Besides jackets, the company also installed a live camera and a weather meter at the top of the construction site to monitor the heat index in real-time, according to the construction site manager Toru Suzuki.
    “If the heat index exceeds 28, we would advise all workers to take a break at least once per hour, and if it exceeds 31, to rest at least once every 30 minutes,” said Suzuki.
    (Production: Irene Wang)
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