"Who Will Work If Construction Halts in the Heatwave?"... Frustration Builds at Sites

Half of Heat-Related Industrial Accidents Involve Construction Workers

Despite Heatwave Warnings, Break Standards Vary by Site

Contractors and Subcontractors Bear the Cost of Delays

"We couldn't work at all because of the monsoon, but how are we supposed to make a living if we can't dig the ground?"

Around 1:00 p.m. on the 27th, at a construction site in Seoul, Hong, a 61-year-old construction worker, muttered complaints while gasping for air. On this day, the highest perceived temperature in Seoul reached 34 degrees Celsius. According to government guidelines, workers are required to take at least a 20-minute break every two hours in such conditions. The site felt like a furnace, with radiant heat pouring from the heated steel bars and concrete, compounded by the heat generated from construction equipment. Even so, Hong commented, "It's better to be hot than to have no work at all."

On the 27th, when the apparent temperature exceeded 34 degrees Celsius, an Uzbek construction worker was moving materials amid the heat at a construction site in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hosoo Park

Although the criteria for halting construction work due to heat waves have been tightened, on-site they are not functioning properly due to the pressure of construction timelines and cost burdens, as well as income losses for day laborers. Support systems intended to compensate for the loss of earnings due to work stoppages have also proven ineffective in practice because of strict qualification requirements.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on July 29, there were 228 cases of occupational heat-related illnesses caused by heatwaves between 2021 and 2025, with 106 cases (46.5%) occurring among construction workers—the highest among all sectors. The number of such cases increased nearly threefold, from 25 in 2021 to 71 last year. In May this year, the ministry introduced more detailed heatwave-related work stoppage criteria: at workplaces where the perceived temperature exceeds 33 degrees Celsius, workers must rest for at least 20 minutes every two hours. When the perceived temperature exceeds 35 degrees, outdoor work between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. should be suspended. When it goes above 38 degrees, all outdoor work except for emergency operations is advised to be halted.

However, construction sites say that it is difficult to apply uniform standards. A safety manager at a major general contractor explained, "It's unrealistic to apply the same standard to a dump truck driver sitting in an air-conditioned cab and a worker outside. Radiant heat and humidity differ at each location, so the measurements also vary."

Experts share a similar view. Jinwoo Jung, professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology's Department of Safety Engineering, pointed out, "Due to factors like radiant heat, the perceived temperature at sites is often around 6 degrees higher than the Meteorological Administration's report. Telling workers to stop or rest without a unified measurement system that reflects actual work environments lacks effectiveness."

Visits to several construction sites across Seoul showed that break times are applied differently at each location. Some small-scale sites did not even have thermometers. A worker from Uzbekistan at one site in Jung-gu, Seoul, said, "When it gets too hot, we sort of gauge the situation ourselves—working about an hour and then taking a 10-minute break."

Stopping work is also not easy. Most contracts are made to complete the job within the fixed budget and construction period, and even if work stops, costs such as equipment rental for tower cranes and site maintenance still accrue. There are processes, such as concrete pouring, where it is difficult to pause in the middle. One industry official said, "We're caught between quality and safety. This vicious cycle even leads to night shifts to make up for construction delays."

Even the income protection system for day laborers when work is halted is not functioning properly. Seoul City operates the 'Construction Worker Safety Allowance' to compensate for up to four hours of living wage per day when work stops due to weather conditions. However, eligibility is limited to domestic day laborers working at least eight days per month at public construction sites ordered by the city with contract amounts over 50 million won. Only about 7% of workers meet the requirements.

Seoul City budgeted 800 million won, expecting 2,000 workers would benefit annually, but last year only two workers received support, and this year not a single one has benefited so far. A city official stated, "We are reviewing issues as the scheme does not align with the employment patterns of day laborers on site, which has made support difficult to deliver."

Experts recommend that standards for suspending work during heat waves be designed with enough detail to actually work on site and that mechanisms be established to cover losses incurred from work stoppages. Kyubeom Sim, CEO of Construction Employment Consulting, emphasized, "If it's hard to apply the same rules everywhere at once, public construction projects should be the first to shoulder the costs of stoppages, confirm the effectiveness, and then expand the measures to the private sector. Local governments should also ease the requirements for the safety allowance so that workers can actually receive meaningful income protection."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.