Ministry to employers: Pull workers out of the midday heat
With a red alert in force and highs near 40 degrees, Serbia's Ministry and the Batut institute want concrete protection for outdoor workers. Here is what to do today.
- Serbia's Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure has issued an urgent appeal to employers to protect outdoor workers during the heat wave.
- Extra care is required once temperatures pass 36 degrees Celsius, especially between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- The national weather service holds a red alert for all of Serbia; the heat wave runs from June 26 to July 1, with daytime highs near 40 degrees and tropical nights up to 25.
- The Batut institute warns that heat stroke is a medical emergency and requires an immediate ambulance call.
Can your job wait two hours for the worst of the heat to pass? These days, the answer is almost always yes. Serbia’s Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure has sent employers a clear message: get people out of the sun during peak heat and organise the day so that no one collapses on the building site.
The appeal is not random. The national weather service is holding a red alert for all of Serbia, its highest warning level. The heat wave runs from June 26 to July 1, with daytime highs reaching close to 40 degrees Celsius. The nights bring little real relief either, because they are tropical, with temperatures up to 25 degrees. In conditions like these the body never gets a chance to cool down, and outdoor work turns into a real risk rather than just discomfort.
The most exposed are the people few of us think about while walking past the scaffolding. Construction crews, utility staff, delivery riders, anyone working without shade and without air conditioning. For them this appeal is not paperwork. It is the difference between a normal shift and a trip to the hospital.
Protective measures that apply from today
The ministry gave a concrete list, not vague phrases. It asks for extra care once the mercury passes 36 degrees, especially between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun is at its strongest.
Our recommendation is that employers put these few things in place right away, step by step:
- Shift the hardest tasks to early morning or late afternoon, outside the peak heat.
- Add more frequent breaks and do not punish people for taking them.
- Provide enough water and non-alcoholic drinks, within reach, not at the far end of the site.
- Create shade or an air-conditioned rest area, even an improvised one.
- Cut direct sun exposure, rotating people onto tasks that are not outdoors.
None of this costs much. It only takes someone planning ahead and building a schedule. A worker who drinks enough water and sits in the shade for ten minutes goes back to work, instead of fainting.
If you are an employee and see none of these measures at your workplace, you have every right to ask for them. Your health is not a bargaining chip.
How do you spot heat stroke before it is too late?
This is where comfort tips stop and the serious health talk begins. Heat stroke is not the same as ordinary heat fatigue. It is a life-threatening condition.
Serbia’s public health institute Batut points to clear warning signs. A body temperature above 40 degrees. Skin that is dry and hot, because the body stops sweating. And confusion, when a person no longer understands where they are, acts disoriented or loses consciousness.
If you see these signs in a colleague or a passer-by, do not wait for it to pass. Call an ambulance immediately. While help is on the way, move the person into shade, cool their body with water and damp cloths and, if they are conscious, give them something to drink.
The line between fatigue and heat stroke can be thin and crossed in minutes. That is exactly why it pays to know the difference before you ever need it.
This summer’s heat is not something to simply push through with a fan. It asks us to change our habits, at least for a few days, and to look out for one another at work and on the street. So how do you cope with the heat on the job, and is your employer using any of these measures?
