Types of injuries
Heat illness at work: workers' comp and your safety rights
Heat exhaustion, heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses caused by work are covered by California workers' comp like any other job injury: medical care, disability pay if you miss work, and more. Separately, Cal/OSHA's heat rules require employers to provide water, shade or cool-down areas, rest breaks, training and emergency plans, both outdoors (8 CCR §3395) and indoors (8 CCR §3396).
Signs of heat illness
- Heat exhaustion: heavy sweating, dizziness, headache, nausea, weakness, cramps.
- Heat stroke (emergency): confusion, slurred speech, fainting, seizures, very high body temperature, hot dry skin. Call 911.
Heat can also trigger heart problems and kidney injury, and workers who are new to hot work or returning after time off are at the highest risk.
What Cal/OSHA requires
Outdoors (§3395): fresh, suitably cool drinking water (enough for about one quart per hour per worker), shade when temperatures exceed 80°F and on request, preventive cool-down rest, high-heat procedures at 95°F, close observation of new workers during acclimatization, training, and emergency response plans.
Indoors (§3396): in workplaces where the indoor temperature reaches 82°F, employers must provide water, cool-down areas, rest breaks, monitoring and emergency procedures, and take additional control measures at higher temperatures or heat index. This covers warehouses, kitchens, factories and similar sites.
Learn more on Cal/OSHA's heat illness page. You can report unsafe heat conditions to Cal/OSHA, and retaliation for safety complaints is illegal.
Making a workers' comp claim for heat illness
- Get medical care right away and tell the provider the symptoms began at work in the heat.
- Report it to your supervisor the same day, in writing if possible, including the temperature, task and how long you'd worked.
- Ask for and file a DWC-1 claim form.
- Write down whether water, shade or breaks were available, and who saw you get sick.
Who's most affected
Farmworkers, construction crews, landscapers, warehouse and distribution workers, kitchen staff and delivery drivers file most heat claims. In California's inland valleys, summer and early-fall heat waves push indoor warehouse temperatures well past the indoor rule's threshold.
What to do next
- Heat stroke signs? Call 911 and cool the person immediately.
- Report the illness in writing the same day.
- Note the temperature, water, shade and break conditions.
Sources
- Cal/OSHA heat illness prevention
- Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, §3395 (outdoor heat illness prevention)
- Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, §3396 (indoor heat illness prevention)
- DWC: What to do if you get hurt on the job
- DWC-1 Workers' Compensation Claim Form and Notice of Potential Eligibility (PDF)
Official sources checked November 2026. Laws and rates change; check the source for the latest version.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different. For free help from the state, call the DWC Information & Assistance unit at 1-800-736-7401.