Heatwaves and occupational health and safety: what role for social dialogue? Evidence from case studies in the agricultural sector and logistics warehouses in Italy

Journal title STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI
Author/s Elisa Errico, Daniele Di Nunzio
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1
Language Italian Pages 25 P. 96-120 File size 198 KB
DOI 10.3280/SO2026-001004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

This article examines the recognition of heatwaves as an emerging occupational health and safety (OHS) risk, focusing on the role of social dialogue and trade unions in shaping prevention systems. Drawing on a cultural approach to organizations, safety is understood as a socially constructed and multi-level process emerging from interactions among workers, firms, institutions and unions. The study combines document analysis of Italian ordinances and protocols adopted between 2016 and 2025 with two qualitative case studies: agriculture in Apulia (outdoor work) and logistics warehouses (indoor work). Findings show a fragmented and highly territorialized system, largely oriented toward emergency management. The most common measures (work suspension during peak heat, shift rescheduling, additional breaks and water provision) remain uneven across sectors and rarely involve structural changes in work organization. In both sectors, heatwaves act as a multiplier of pre-existing vulnerabilities linked to precarious employment, subcontracting and weak representation. Trade unions play an intermediary role between scientific knowledge, regulation and workplace practices, yet their effectiveness depends on the strength of industrial relations and worker representation. The article argues that climate-related OHS risks are shaped by situated and negotiated processes, calling for adaptive and participatory prevention systems that integrate worker protection and just transition.

Keywords: heatwaves, climate change, occupational health and safety; industrial relations; trade unions; just transition

  1. Gherardi, S., Murgia, A. (2015), L’in-sicurezza sul lavoro tra imposizioni formali e pratiche quotidiane: un’introduzione, Studi Organizzativi, 1: 9-19.
  2. Bottalico, A. (2025), La logistica in Italia. Merci, lavoro, conflitti, Roma, Carocci editore.
  3. Bubbico, D., Di Nunzio, D. (2022), Azione sindacale e tutela della salute tra siti produttivi, territori e filiere dell’agroindustria, Roma, Futura.
  4. Cagliano, R., Trucco, P., Di Nunzio, D., Bellomo, S., Buresti, G., Boccuni, F., Calleri, S., Frascheri, C., Lupi, M. (2017), IMPAcT-RLS. Il ruolo dei rappresentanti dei lavoratori per la sicurezza e le interazioni con gli attori della prevenzione, Milano, Inail.
  5. Cefaliello, A. (2023), Heat stress at work: not just a hot topic but a political emergency, Hesa Mag, 28.
  6. Cox, T., Griffith, A.J (1995), The Assessment of Psychosocial Hazards at Work. Theory and Practice, in Wilson, J., Corlett, N. (eds.), The Evaluation of Human Work: A Practical Ergonomics Methodology, London, Taylor & Francis.
  7. Curi, S., Bologna, S. (2019), Relazioni industriali e servizi di logistica: uno studio preliminare, Giornale di diritto del lavoro e di relazioni industriali, 161(1): 125-156. DOI: 10.3280/GDL2019-161006
  8. Di Blasi, C., Marinaccio, A., Gariazzo, C., Taiano, L., Bonafede, M., Leva, A., Morabito, M., Michelozzi, P., de’ Donato, F. (2023), Effects of Temperatures and Heatwaves on Occupational Injuries in the Agricultural Sector in Italy, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 2781.
  9. Feagin, J., Orum, A., Sjoberg, G. (1991), A case for case study, Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Press.
  10. Flouris, A., Azzi, M., Graczyk, H., Nafradi, B., and Scott, N. (2024), Heat at Work: Implications for Safety and Health. A Global Review of the Science, Policy and Practice, Geneva, ILO.
  11. Gagliardi, P. (1986), The Creation and Change of Organizational Cultures: A Conceptual Framework, Organization Studies, 7(2): 117-134. DOI: 10.1177/017084068600700203
  12. Gariazzo, C., Taiano, L., Bonafede, M., Leva, A., Morabito, M., de' Donato F., Marinaccio, A. (2023), Association between extreme temperature exposure and occupational injuries among construction workers in Italy: An analysis of risk factors, Environment International, 171, 107677.
  13. Gherardi, S., Nicolini, D., Odella, F. (1997), La cultura della sicurezza nei luoghi di lavoro, Sviluppo & Organizzazione, 162: 15-30.
  14. Gourzoulidis, G., Gofa, F., Ioannou, L.G., Konstantakopoulos, I., Flouris, A. (2023), Developing a Feasible Integrated Framework for Occupational Heat Stress Protection: A Step Towards Safer Working Environments, La Medicina Del Lavoro | Work, Environment and Health, 114 (5), e2023043.
  15. Guo, Y., Gasparrini A., Li, S., Sera, F., Vicedo-Cabrera, A.M., Coelho, M. S.Z.S, Saldiva, P.H.N., Lavigne, E., Tawatsupa, B., Punnasiri, K., Overcenco, A., Correa, P.M, Ortega, N.V., Kan,H., Osorio, S., Jaakkola, J.J.K., Ryti,N.I.R, Goodman, P.G., Zeka, A., Michelozzi, P., Scortichini,M., Hashizume, M., Honda, Y., Seposo, X., Kim, H., Tobias, A., Íñiguez, C., Forsberg, B., Åström, D.O., Guo, Y.L., Chen, B., Zanobetti, A., Schwartz, J., Dang, T.N., Do Van D., Bell M.L.,Armstrong B., Ebi K.L.,Tong S. (2018), Quantifying excess deaths related to heatwaves under climate change scenarios: A multicountry time series modelling study, Plos Medicine, 15, e1002629.
  16. Maggi, B. (1986), Razionalità e benessere. Studio interdisciplinare dell’organizzazione, Milano, Etas.
  17. Magrin, M.E. (2008), Dalla resistenza alla resilienza: promuovere benessere nei luoghi di lavoro, Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro ed Ergonomia, Supplemento A, Psicologia, PI-ME, 30(1): A11-A19.
  18. Marx, W., Haunschild, R., Bornmann, L. (2021), Heat waves: a hot topic in climate change research, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 146(1-2): 781-800.
  19. Narocki, C. (2022), Heatwaves as an occupational hazard, Bruxelles, Etui.
  20. Rugiero, S. (2021), Sindacato e transizione energetica tra nuovi orientamenti culturali e pratiche di giusta transizione, Quaderni di Rassegna Sindacale, 2: 63-73.
  21. Rugiero, S., Di Nunzio, D. (2023), Digital Transitions and Innovation in Construction Value Chains, Industrial Relations and Equitable Socio-technical Change, (eds.), UK, USA, Edward Elgar Publishing.
  22. Schein, E.H. (1991), Organizational culture, American Psychologist, 45: 109-119.
  23. Schneider D., Harknett K., Jackson H. (2025), Heat exposure in indoor service sector workplaces: prevalence, health consequences, and mitigation strategies, Massachusetts, Harvard Kennedy School.
  24. Signoretti, A., Pedaci, M., Perra, S., Pilati, K. (2025), Competing for workers’ representation: established and grassroots unions in the Italian logistics sector, European Societies, 1-29.
  25. Strati, A. (1998), Organizational Symbolism as a Social Construction: A Perspective from the Sociology of Knowledge, Human Relations, 51(11): 1379-402.
  26. Tannok, S. (2024), Adaptation Strategies: Labour Education, Climate Crisis and the UK Trade Union Movement, Global Labour Journal, 15(2): 111-125.
  27. Zuo, J., Pullen, S., Palmer, J., Bennetts, H., Chileshe, N., Ma, T. (2015), Impacts of heat waves and corresponding measures: a review, Journal of Cleaner Production, 92: 1-12.
  28. Walters, D. (2004), Worker representation and health and safety in small enterprises in Europe, Industrial Relations Journal, 35: 169-186.
  29. Walters, D., Frick, K., Wadsworth, E. (2018), Trade union initiatives to support improved safety and health in micro and small firms: Trade Union Prevention Agents (TUPAs ) in four EU Member States.
  30. Weick, K. (1995), Sensemaking in Organisations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.
  31. World Meteorological Organisation (2023), The state of climate in Europe, Geneva, WMO.

Elisa Errico, Daniele Di Nunzio, Ondate di calore e salute e sicurezza sul lavoro: quale ruolo per il dialogo sociale? Evidenze a partire da casi studio nel settore agricolo e nei magazzini della logisitica in Italia in "STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI " 1/2026, pp 96-120, DOI: 10.3280/SO2026-001004