appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Vincent Tan

When the day heats up, small business owner Chung Kee Wa, 68, changes how he tends his oil palm plantation in Yong Peng, in Malaysia’s southern Johor state.
Oil palms younger than three years offer little shade, so he tends them in the early mornings and evenings, spraying pesticide, applying fertiliser or weeding. “We try our best to avoid going to the plantation around noon,” Chung said.
He carries extra drinking water and, as a smallholder, decides when to slow down or change his hours.
But not everyone shares that luxury. Many construction, agriculture and platform workers across Southeast Asia lack that flexibility because employers or output determine their schedules.

Southeast Asia is getting hotter, with the annual mean temperature rising by 0.14 degrees Celsius (0.25 degrees Fahrenheit) to 0.2 degrees per decade since the 1960s, according to an Asian Development Bank report in June.
Many Southeast Asian cities lacked adequate heat risk assessments, and regulations protecting outdoor workers from extreme heat were either weak or unenforced, the report said.
A September 2024 research brief by the International Labour Organization estimated that heat stress could erase 3.7 per cent of working hours in Southeast Asia by 2030 – equivalent to 13 million full-time jobs.
Countries like Singapore are taking note. Its Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on August 28 that an average of six work-related heat disorder cases were reported annually from 2023 to 2025, with no fatalities.
It enhanced its Heat Stress Management Framework in September 2024, requiring measures focused on “drink, rest and shade”, alongside heat acclimatisation, wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) monitoring and emergency response plans.
Those doing heavy physical work must rest for at least 10 minutes per hour when the WBGT registers 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit). This rises to 15 minutes at 33 degrees.

WBGT combines temperature, humidity, wind and radiant heat, measuring environmental heat stress more comprehensively than air temperature alone.
From December 1, employers must also provide heat-stress training, cool drinking water near work areas, suitable clothing and emergency cooling provisions such as cold water, ice packs or water sprays. MOM will recommend that shaded rest areas be ventilated and insulated or cooled.
The ministry told This Week in Asia it found 56 companies with heat management lapses in the first half of 2026. These included failures to monitor WBGT, implement acclimatisation programmes or establish emergency response procedures. The companies were warned and some were fined.
Worker, not environment
But environmental readings are only part of assessing the strain on outdoor workers, according to Jason Lee, director of the Heat Resilience and Performance Centre at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.
Individual risk also depends on clothing, physical condition and the intensity and duration of the task. “We are worried about a hot worker, not just a hot environment,” he said.
In Bangkok, delivery rider Koy Phanida has reorganised her work day around the heat. “During very hot weather, I work from about 7am until 1pm, take a break until 5pm, then work again until 8pm or 9pm,” the 38-year-old said. “On days that are not hot, I work all day from 7am to 5pm.”
She rests and recharges at home because the platform provides no facilities, stretching her working day to 13 or 14 hours. “I have experienced headaches. I stop to find a cool place, take medicine, rest for a while and monitor my symptoms,” she said.
She neither sought medical care nor reported the headaches, saying she would not receive any compensation for doing so.

Koy’s unrecorded headaches illustrate Lee’s concern that reported heat illness may understate its burden.
“Heat can aggravate cardiovascular or respiratory conditions, without being recorded as the trigger,” Lee said. “Compounding this, workers who seek treatment at nearby neighbourhood clinics may not be captured in official workplace or hospital data, creating additional gaps in heat-illness surveillance.”
Malaysia’s Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) recorded only eight occupational heat stress-related cases between 2017 and 2025, director general Hazlina Yon told local media last month.
“Under-reporting on heat stress is definitely a concern,” said Wong Yan Ke, regional campaign officer for climate and forestry at the Asia-Pacific regional office of Building and Wood Workers’ International, a global union federation.
Local and migrant workers might avoid reporting symptoms for fear of being labelled “malingerers” or “disruptive”, potentially affecting future work, he said. Employers might also under-report to protect their safety records.
Drinking water is often seen as the best solution to the heat but it is just one aspect. “Resting, is the most powerful, followed by aerobic conditioning, heat acclimatisation, cooling, and then finally hydration,” Lee said. “The power of water breaks lies in the breaks.”
Lower heat strain could improve productivity, morale and worker retention while reducing accidents, Lee added.
Understanding risks
Since Singapore’s 2023 national heat advisory, several industries have sought researchers’ help to understand and address rising heat risks.
Malaysia uses DOSH guidelines rather than a stand-alone heat regime. Employers who fail to manage heat risks in the country could face fines of up to 500,000 ringgit (US$124,000), two years’ imprisonment or both under the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s general-duty provision.
Smaller firms, however, might need incentives or support to adopt such measures, Wong said.
He pointed to South Korea as a potential model. South Korean employers must provide at least 20 minutes’ rest every two hours when the apparent temperature reaches 33 degrees, while public-construction guidance allows contract extensions and says delay damages should not be imposed for heat-related overruns.

“Currently, DOSH’s guidelines are generally all right, but they are non-binding. There needs to be more teeth,” Wong said.
He called for the guidelines to be updated because they predated climate change becoming a central workplace concern and conditions had changed significantly.
Thailand sets statutory WBGT ceilings of 34 degrees for light work, 32 degrees for moderate work and 30 degrees for heavy labour. Its standard does not mention self-employed workers, according to WIEGO and HomeNet Thailand.
A study of 300 informal, seasonal sugar cane harvesters in Nakhon Sawan – conducted from January to March 2023, and published in February 2025 – found they averaged 10.1 working hours daily without formal breaks.
Researchers assessed their exposure against the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists’ recommended threshold limit value of 26.6 degrees effective WBGT for heavy work. Exposure exceeded that threshold during 90.9 per cent of working time in the hotter study month of March 2023.
Ultimately, heat protection in Southeast Asia may depend less on specified temperatures than on who controls the pace when thresholds are reached.
For Koy, the heat changes her working hours, but not her financial commitment. “Various reasons, including the financial rewards, make us want to earn more, so we work more,” she said.


In a US-China world, Asean must do more than avoid choosing sides

How Chinese firms can optimise their ‘going out’ strategy in Southeast Asia

Why Brunei prefers ‘quiet diplomacy’ over confrontation in South China Sea

Hong Kong secures expanded equal treatment and investment guarantees across Asean

Asean

Southeast Asia’s extreme heat exposes holes in safety net for outdoor workers

A farm worker sprays fertiliser on a paddy field in Selangor’s Sabak Bernam district, Malaysia, on April 1. Photo: EPA

Workers transfer harvested oil palm fruits to a transport truck in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, in April 2022. Photo: AFP

A worker supported on safety ropes paints the facade of an residential building in Singapore on June 29. Photo: AFP 

Koy Phanida poses with her family on her delivery bike. Photo: Handout

Wong Yan Ke, regional campaign officer for climate and forestry at the Asia-Pacific regional office of Building and Wood Workers’ International. Photo: Handout

Malaysia’s air quality turns hazardous as Indonesian wildfires burn

The skyline of Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur is seen shrouded in haze from regional wildfires on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Firefighters spray water in an attempt to extinguish a wildfire in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Satellite data from Nasa’s Fire Information for Resource Management System showed dense concentrations of heat signatures in West Kalimantan on Sunday. Image: Handout

A farmer in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province sprays water in an attempt to extinguish wildfires that are burning his palm oil plantation on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Burnt trees lie on the ground at a peatland area affected by wildfires in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Haze returns to Malaysia’s Sarawak, Selangor as Indonesian wildfires burn out of control

A residential area in Kuala Lumpur is  affected by the haze on September 29, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

A wildfire burns in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park near Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java province on Thursday. Photo: AFP

As rice output falls, Malaysia looks to China’s ‘2 yields, 1 land’ model

Malaysian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu (centre) visits a rice-prawn farm in the city of Wuhu in China’s eastern Anhui province in August. Photo: Facebook/Mohamad Sabu

A farm worker sprays fertiliser on a paddy field in Sabak Bernam district, Selangor state, Malaysia. Photo: EPA

Malaysian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu (centre) shows a prawn harvested from a rice-prawn farm in the city of Wuhu in China’s eastern Anhui province in August. Photo: Facebook/Mohamad Sabu

A drone waters a rice-prawn farm in the city of Wuhu in China’s eastern Anhui province. Photo: Facebook/Mohamad Sabu

Why Malaysia’s push for 15 million Muslim tourists is no sure thing

A view of Kuala Lumpur’s city skyline. Photo: Shutterstock

A view of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Selangor, Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock

The Bukit Bintang shopping district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock

Colourful tri-shaws on standby to take tourists around the Malacca old town in Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock

Tourists walk past a mural featuring the Malaysian national flag in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA-EFE

In Malaysia, injured elephant Sulong’s 100km trek home drives logging debate

Sulong walks along a road on his 100km journey back home in August. Photo: X/jjhwonu

Sulong, the injured Asian elephant, pictured during his weeks-long journey home. Photo: Threads/fadel_everest

This Week in Asia

Health & Environment

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Many Southeast Asian cities lack adequate heat risk assessments, and have weak regulations protecting outdoor workers, a report says


Many Southeast Asian cities lack adequate heat risk assessments, and have weak regulations protecting outdoor workers, a report says.


Southeast Asia’s extreme heat exposes holes in safety net for outdoor workers

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Many Southeast Asian cities lack adequate heat risk assessments, and have weak regulations protecting outdoor workers, a report says

Many Southeast Asian cities lack adequate heat risk assessments, and have weak regulations protecting outdoor workers, a report says