Climate and worker safety

Preparing for extreme weather events

Opinion

When most people think of workplace safety, the first things that come to mind are slips, trips, falls, or perhaps equipment related hazards. But increasingly, another key factor is reshaping how organizations must think about health and safety: climate change.

Across Canada, workers are already dealing with the impact. These aren’t abstract risks anymore — they are real, immediate challenges that directly affect employee safety and business continuity. For health and safety professionals, this shift means that climate resilience can no longer sit outside of safety planning - it must become a part of it.

New reality: Climate as a safety hazard

Every region faces different threats. In Western Canada, wildfires have disrupted not only communi