India's garment industry employs millions of workers, many of them women, in factories that are among the most heat-intensive workplaces in the country. Workers operate next to machines that reach 90 to 99 degrees Celsius. Factories are built with metal roofs that trap heat. Ventilation is poor or absent. And production targets are structured in ways that make it nearly impossible to take rest breaks, even when heat stress becomes severe.
HeatWatch, in collaboration with TISS, documented conditions for 115 garment workers across Tamil Nadu, Delhi-NCR and Gujarat. 87% reported heat-related illness. 78% skip breaks to meet production targets. Women's heat stress levels are three times higher than men's. Most factories that operated under metal roofs had no equipment to measure temperature or humidity, and in some factories, sensors were only activated during buyer visits or compliance inspections.
Read more about our work with garment workers here: