France’s labour ministry said in a report released in May that heatwaves had become “a growing occupational risk” – especially in the construction, agriculture and outdoor service industries. The report noted a rise in incidents of fainting, decreased alertness and accidents linked to operating heavy machinery, leading the ministry to reinforce preventative measures during periods of high temperatures. For its part, the Regional Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Labour and Social Solidarity (DREETS) for the Île-de-France department in and around Paris published a statement the
same month reminding employers that they have been legally obliged since July 2025 to give their employees access to fresh water, adapt their work hours as needed and limit their exposure to direct sunlight during the hottest stretches of the day. The guide to preventing heat-related work accidents, updated in 2026 by French health and workplace safety authorities, also stresses that prolonged exposure to high temperatures can cause symptoms ranging from headaches to heatstroke, which can be a potentially serious medical emergency. Outdoor workers are
among those most at risk. Read moreFrance’s latest heatwave: ‘Temperatures will fall, and we won’t talk about it anymore’ ‘I don’t have a choice’ Throughout the heatwave, many labourers start their workday before the sun rises in the hope of avoiding the worst of the day’s heat. It’s not always enough. On the Champs-Élysées, Safiullah, an Afghan gardener employed by one of the many restaurants lining the famous boulevard, struggles to keep the plants fresh in heavy and humid conditions. “I sweat a lot and
always feel tired,” he said as he dragged a hand across his forehead. “But I have no choice. My social circumstances, my professional circumstances, mean I have to keep working, whatever the conditions. I’m just trying to get by, day after day.” Shade is even harder to come by among the concrete-and-steel construction sites rising up across the city. Alexandre, a worker from Georgia, said that working under the sun could be brutal. “The heat is extremely strong and the work sometimes becomes almost unbearable,”
he said. “We try to cool down by splashing water over ourselves, and we start as early as six o’clock in the morning to make the most of the relative coolness of the early hours. But in the end, we have no choice but to keep going.” In a statement published earlier in June, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union estimated that the lack of sufficient restrictions continued to expose thousands of construction workers to “barely tolerable” working conditions. The union stressed that heatwaves
could no longer be seen as the exception in France but the reality, with long-term repercussions for the country’s working conditions. State of emergency France’s healthcare system is trying to prepare itself for this new reality. Faced with mounting pressure on emergency rooms caused by extreme heat, the Greater Paris University Hospitals network said it was installing more air-conditioning units, fans and misters, improving temperature monitoring in hospital rooms, and setting up air-conditioned “refuge areas” in senior facilities and long-term care centres. Official figures show
a spike in emergency room visits since the start of the week. On the night of the annual Fête de la musique outdoor music festival on Sunday, the number of people taken to emergency rooms in and around the capital was almost double the daily average, a spokesperson for the hospitals network said. Paramedics received over 30 percent more calls compared with the previous week.
Paris heatwave, occupational risk, construction workers, outdoor workers, heatstroke, CGT, DREETS, Greater Paris University Hospitals, Fête de la musique