We asked North Shore tradies, delivery drivers and a landscaper about sweltering in 40C heat

“You jump in, it’s like a sauna. You're covered in sweat.” 

That’s how one St Leonards construction worker describes working through a recent heatwave. 

As the mercury hovered around 40C in parts of Sydney, many retreated to air-conditioned living rooms, offices and shopping centres. No such luck for construction workers, posties, council road crews and gig workers ferrying curries and burgers about on bikes.

Heat and productivity: Taking their lunch at a chicken shop, a group of local construction workers were happy to chat to the Lorikeet about the impact of recent heatwaves.

“Productivity slows down, but it feels like you're working harder,” said one.

Another told us that when working high up, some relief was provided by cool breezes. He suggested if we wanted to better understand the impact of heat, we could come down to the site and do his job for a few hours. We declined this generous offer, purely on the grounds of health and safety.

Unions speak out: The impact of heatwaves on workers across Australia has prompted the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) — representing nearly two million workers — to call for national heat standards to be introduced.

• On Wednesday, the ACTU said that “increasingly frequent heatwaves driven by climate change now pose a major workplace health and safety threat”.

It is calling for employers across the country to be obligated to manage the risk of heat.

Gig workers also at risk: Two delivery drivers working on e-bicycles during a 30C Friday in St Leonards told the Lorikeet that when temperatures began to reach 40C, they stopped taking shifts. One said he received no bonus or compensation for working in extreme conditions. 

Mariano, a landscaper working on the North Shore, said he often has to work outside in temperatures of 35-40C, and that when he does he wears a wet rag around the back of his neck.

A joint report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization in 2025 found that rising temperatures do not only affect the health of workers, but their productivity.

The report finds that for every degree above 20 degrees Celsius, worker productivity drops by 2-3%.

Thumbnail: Shivendu Shukla, Thujey Ngetup via Unsplash