WASHINGTON, D.C. — April 17, 2026 — Today, the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), published its AAFA Guide to Protecting Workers from Heat Stress.
The guidance is intended to provide practical and actionable recommendations that can be operationalized in supply chains to implement policies and procedures to both mitigate and prevent excessive heat days and to protect workers when excessive heat days do occur.
Protecting workers in the apparel, footwear, and travel goods industry from extreme heat is becoming increasingly important as global temperatures and the incidence of heat stress in the workplace continue to rise. The International Labor Organization estimates that 18,970 deaths and 22.87 million occupation injuries are linked to excessive heat in the workplace. The guidance details how to mitigate the effects of occupational heat stress on workers, based on international standards, government policies, and academic research. Key recommendations include that factories:
- Set maximum thresholds for workplace heat;
- Implement structural mitigation strategies to help prevent and/or lower the incidence of a heat stress environment;
- Adjust workloads, water, and bathroom breaks in accordance with heat conditions;
- Establish heat stress education and medical monitoring programs to help workers, supervisors, and health staff identify and prevent heat-related illnesses;
- Implement a regular discussion mechanism between buyers and suppliers to work together not only to reduce the incidence of heat stress but share responsibility for the impact of heat stress and extreme heat days on the workers, suppliers, and buyers; and
- Improve adherence to regional and national labor and public health codes regarding workplace temperature, ventilation, humidity, and room capacity.
The guidance was composed with representatives from the entire supply chain – retailers, brands, manufacturers, and material suppliers – and with consultation with key stakeholders representing both the industry, academia, MSIs, international organizations, NGOs, and more.
The AAFA Guide to Protecting Workers from Heat Stress will be regularly reviewed to incorporate new or updated information regarding heat related illness, best practices, or global standards to reflect the most up to date and accurate guidance. The guidance is open to all industry stakeholders for widespread sharing of best practices and will be updated annually.
Today’s publication builds on AAFA’s long-standing efforts to support fair labor practices for garment workers worldwide and specifically its work since 2024 to develop protections against heat stress in the supply chain. AAFA encourages the global industry to adopt the publicly available AAFA Guide to Protecting Workers from Heat Stress as a key resource in keeping laborers safe across the globe.
Posted: April 17, 2026
Source: The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA)
