Safeguarding the rice bowl: Southeast Asia’s workers face heat every day, not just during heatwaves
In Southeast Asia, the “rice bowl” is a common expression for one’s livelihood: the job, the income, the daily food on a family’s table. For millions of workers across the region, acquiring that rice bowl is becoming increasingly difficult, putting people’s health at risk.
Rising temperatures and humidity are intensifying both risk and burden as heat often persists around the clock, giving people little chance to recover. Workers in garment factories, on construction sites, in agricultural fields, and driving delivery routes face heat as a daily reality which can be difficult to escape.
According to the International Labour Organization, nearly 74% of the working population in the Asia-Pacific region is already exposed to excessive heat. That’s roughly 1.5 billion people – more than three times the population of the European Union, or close to the entire population of China.
Heat risk outside the heatwave
Despite the stark numbers, the policy response in many countries remains reactive.
“In most countries, workplace heat stress is only addressed during heatwaves,” said Professor Andreas Flouris, Director of the FAME Laboratory at the University of Thessaly and an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). “And unfortunately, this is only a glimpse of the problem that has significant impacts on both the economy and people’s health.”
The data bears this out starkly: according to ILO research, 9 out of 10 worker exposures to excessive heat happen outside of a heatwave, and 8 out of 10 occupational injuries occur in everyday working conditions, not during declared emergencies.
Part of the challenge is how heat stress is understood and measured: temperature alone tells only part of the story. In Southeast Asia’s hot and humid conditions, sweat evaporation – the body’s primary cooling mechanism – is significantly less effective. Clothing, physical activity and metabolic heat production all compound the risk.
A worker in an ironing section or packing warehouse can face dangerous heat strain even when outdoor conditions appear manageable. According to data collected by ILO-IFC Better Factories Cambodia from over 500 factories in 2025, temperatures ranged from 31 to 41 degrees Celsius across production areas, and the heat indoors often exceeded outdoor temperatures. In the previous year, temperature was higher than 32 degrees Celsius in nearly 70% of the factories monitored.
“Heat stress is emerging as one of the most significant occupational safety and health challenges in Cambodia, if not the most important one,” said Froukje Boele, Country Programme Manager of ILO-IFC Better Factories Cambodia. “A growing body of evidence underscores the need for stronger preventive measures in the workplace.”
Getting it right: governance and coordination
Addressing heat and occupational health requires moving beyond emergency response to systematic risk management, and should range from workplace risk assessment, control measures, and worker education to health monitoring, as well as longer-term climate mitigation. This also means heat must be measured using indicators that account for humidity, radiant heat, and wind – not just air temperature alone.
Most importantly, protocols and action plans must be designed with workers at the center, making sure they are adapted to local context; that workers can realistically follow guidance given, including structured rest or hydration breaks, and acclimatization schedules to mention a few.
Getting this right demands coordination across governments, employers, workers, and supply chains, and it is beginning to happen. According to Ms. Boele, the ILO is supporting the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training in Cambodia to develop national heat regulation, while the Ministry of Environment has issued guidelines on passive cooling strategies. Brands sourcing from the region are increasingly raising the issue of heat with their suppliers, creating an opportunity for more aligned, coherent action.
The GHHIN Southeast Asia Hub, chaired by Associate Professor Jason Lee of the National University of Singapore’s Heat Resilience & Performance Centre, is helping translate this evidence into regional action: convening experts, supporting capacity building, and connecting research to policy across the region.
For the workers whose rice bowl depends on showing up every day, heat is not a headline – it is everyday reality. Protecting their health and livelihoods means placing them at the heart of the response.