At 9:30 in the morning, the thermometer at a housing site in Guadalupe, Murcia, already reads 34.5°C. For Paco Nicolás, who has spent three decades in construction, this is only the start of another punishing summer day. When temperatures climb past 40°C, the work becomes physically demanding and potentially dangerous.
Continuous hydration is impressive, but Nicolás and his colleagues know that water alone is not enough. By early afternoon, conditions are “overwhelming,” yet work must continue. Intense physical effort under relentless sun sharply increases the risk of heat stress and heatstroke. Every outdoor shift carries a calculated risk.
Heat Risks on the Job
Standard precautions, including drinking water and taking breaks, may not be enough when the heat becomes extreme. Spain’s National Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INSST) recommends gradual acclimatization to high temperatures, limiting exposure during peak hours, providing shaded rest areas, adjusting work pace, and maintaining constant hydration. Workers are also advised to wear loose, breathable clothing, protect their heads and eyes, use sunscreen, avoid working alone, and call emergency services at the first sign of heatstroke.
These precautions have limits. If preventive evaluations show that safety cannot be guaranteed, companies must take further action, sometimes halting work altogether. Spain’s outdoor-work rules require employers to assess the task under its environmental conditions, including each worker’s individual circumstances, and to adapt or stop work if preventive measures cannot keep people safe.
Legal Obligations and Changing Schedules
Spanish law, specifically Royal Decree 486/1997, as amended to address adverse weather conditions, requires employers to act against weather-related risks in outdoor jobs. Risk assessments must account for the nature of the work and each worker’s personal circumstances. If existing precautions are inadequate, measures may include changing schedules, shortening shifts or suspending work during the most dangerous periods. An orange or red alert from the national weather agency AEMET is relevant, but alerts cover specific hazards, areas and periods. Employers should consider them alongside conditions at the worksite and their risk assessment. Simply handing out water does not meet the legal duty to protect staff.
AEMET’s Meteoalerta system provides warnings for adverse weather up to 72 hours ahead and updates information as a phenomenon develops. Alerts communicate forecast or ongoing hazard levels. Station observations, by contrast, record conditions measured at specific locations and times. AEMET publishes hourly observations and daily extremes for stations including Cartagena and Archena, showing why employers should assess local conditions instead of relying on a generalized regional forecast.
Murcia’s Proactive Approach
Murcia’s construction sector has taken additional steps in anticipation of extreme heat. In 2025, FRECOM and the Colegio de Aparejadores de la Región de Murcia signed an agreement to provide technical advice to companies. The support also includes a personalized alert system that sends AEMET forecasts by email or WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) 24 hours in advance, giving firms time to reschedule shifts and tasks before risks escalate. Regional authorities reported no heatstroke accidents in Murcia’s construction sector during the summer of 2024. Preventive campaigns continue, with renewed emphasis on heat and thermal stress as summer approaches.
These measures matter, but conditions on the ground remain challenging. Paco Nicolás and his team face a daily negotiation between productivity and safety as they adapt to extreme heat. Their experience reflects wider concerns about workplace risks in a warming climate. Those concerns also intersect with everyday safety habits, including the risk of leaving keys in doors overnight, as highlighted in this recent report on emergency access risks.
