Working in Extreme Heat: Risks, Responses, and Solutions for Occupational Health and Safety
By Manushi Sharma & Deepshikha Ola, October 16, 2025
At NY Climate Week, Change the Chamber united experts and organizers to tackle how extreme heat endangers workers, and the bold solutions needed to keep them safe.
On September 24th, Change the Chamber hosted a live discussion during New York Climate Week. This solutions-focused conversation brought together climate litigation specialists, scientists, organizers, and city officials to discuss the implications of extreme heat on workplace safety, the challenges we are facing, and the solutions.
Dr. Ashley Nemeth, Director of Programs at the Climate Law Accelerator and Supervising Attorney at the Earth Rights Research & Action (TERRA) Clinic at NYU School of Law. Her expertise spans climate litigation, legal innovation, and worker rights.
Dr. Kayleigh Ward, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Northeastern University. Her research looks closely at how climate change and extreme heat intersect with social vulnerability and public health, bringing an evidence-based lens to understanding worker experiences and risks.
Jodi Sugerman-Brozan, Deputy Chief of Worker Empowerment for the City of Boston. Jodi brought in the policy maker perspective, in advancing worker rights and climate resilience at the municipal level, and today she’ll share how the City of Boston is responding to extreme heat through policy and community-centered initiatives.
Oscar Londoño, Co-Executive Director of WeCount! Oscar works alongside immigrant and outdoor workers in South Florida, organizing for stronger protections and amplifying frontline voices. He shared how community-driven advocacy and worker power are shaping the fight for climate and labor justice.
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard on Earth, and its impact is already visible in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and homes. In 2024 alone, extreme heat cost the U.S. economy an estimated $162 billion (equivalent to nearly 1 percent of GDP), and these losses are projected to escalate significantly in the coming decades if effective policies are not implemented. Yet, as our panelists reminded us, solutions are not only possible, they are already happening.
Challenges Exist, But So Do Solutions
The event drew participants from across continents, underscoring how extreme weather, especially heat, has become a shared human experience. The speakers unpacked the challenges from federal regulation in the U.S. to the frontline advocacy, revealing that progress is messy and seldom a straight path.
1. Naming Heat as a Hazard and the Legal Opportunity
Ashley Nemeth (NYU Climate Law Accelerator) pointed out that because heat is invisible, slow, and contextual, it escapes the public imagination and policy response: “Heat waves are the deadliest form of extreme weather; deadlier than hurricanes or floods, yet they rarely make headlines.” Our system still lacks the vocabulary, warning categories, and social urgency to treat heat like the disaster it is. She reframed this absence as a legal opportunity: turning a growing body of climate-health evidence into enforceable protections. From federal OSHA rulemaking to international litigation, the law, she said, “is there for the taking: if we push it to deliver on its purpose.”
2. Data Under Threat, but Citizen Science Rising
Kayleigh Ward (Northeastern University) captured the new normal: one where Alaska now issues heat advisories and nine million people recently endured “oppressive heat” in a single month. Her warning was twofold: while heat risk is rising, our data infrastructure is shrinking. In this ‘data drought’. Ward offered a path forward: community-led data preservation and citizen science. When residents, clinics, and universities co-create datasets, “we not only protect information: we make it local, real, and actionable.”
3. Cities Take the Lead: Boston’s Ordinance on Heat Protections
Jodi Sugerman-Brozan (City of Boston) demonstrated how local governments can act where federal systems lag.
Boston has developed and passed an Extreme Heat Protection Ordinance, set to take effect by summer 2026. The city will require all municipal contractors to have a heat illness prevention plan, with training, rest breaks, and acclimatization protocols. To mobilize this systems-level action, Sugerman-Brozan emphasized the importance of finding and using the leverage you have. For Boston, that meant wielding the city’s contracting and permitting power to drive fair and safe labor standards even when state or federal regulations fall short. “We can’t regulate everything,” she explained, “but we can use the power of our procurement to set expectations for worker protection and safety.”
4. When Government Fails, Communities Innovate
Oscar Londoño (We Count!) shared the story of Plantas y Justicia (“Planting Justice”), a worker-led certification program pushing private companies to guarantee water, shade, rest, and fair working conditions. In Florida, where state officials have blocked heat protections, workers are building their own solutions. He shared the story of Aracely, a mother and a nursery worker. “Behind every houseplant,” Oscar said, “is a worker like Aracely–not a victim, but a leader.” His message was simple: when governments refuse to act, workers and consumers together can create accountability and build change from the ground up.
5. Progress Doesn’t Have to be Perfect: It Just has to be progress.
The panel emphasized that addressing extreme heat requires a systems response. The best solutions involve collaboration across different sectors. Boston’s success, for instance, came from coordinating the Office of Worker Empowerment, the Office of Climate Resilience, and the Public Health Commission. We Count!’s strategy hinges upon consumer pressure and private sector agreements when facing hostile state legislation. As Nemeth concluded, the law is there for the taking- it’s up to all of us to engage with it, push it, and find creative ways to solve this growing crisis. And in Sugerman-Brozan’s words, “We’re building the plane while flying it: but we’re building it together.”
CLIMATE AND HEALTH SERIES
This webinar is a part of our ongoing #OurClimateOurHealth Series, which explores how climate and environment shape our health outcomes. We highlight both the risks and the solutions, underscoring that climate action is, at its core, a public health necessity. Our goal is to inform, inspire, and equip readers, practitioners, and policymakers to safeguard health in the face of environmental change.
Change The Chamber is a nonpartisan coalition of young adults, 100+ student groups across the country, environmental justice and frontline community groups, and other allied organizations. To support our work, donate or join our efforts!