"Deadly heat but threadbare protections at garment factories in Tamil Nadu" 25 May 2025

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As the State endures longer summers and more frequent heatwaves, women in the state’s garment and textile factories are among the hardest hit. Inside these factories, long hours, poor ventilation, synthetic uniforms, and punishing production targets have created conditions where heat is not just uncomfortable—it’s a health crisis.

Inside the factories, asbestos roofs amplify the sun’s intensity, turning workspaces into “pressure cookers.” “We wear bras, blouses, sarees, caps and masks in 40°C heat for more than 8 hours. It feels like being locked inside a pressure cooker at high flame,” says Rita, a 36 year old garment worker in Dindigul.

Yet, most factories lack basic heat monitoring. “Standing all day in this high heat makes my legs give up on me-I feel like I could just collapse to the ground any minute, especially by afternoon. I sweat so much my dress gets drenched and starts to stink. I feel dirty in my own body-but there’s no break, no time to even wipe the sweat off my face,” says Baby, a garment worker from Erode.

Production targets remain relentless-1,000 garments per day in many factories - even as the heat intensifies.

Workers report a lack of access to clean drinking water. Bathroom breaks are tightly controlled. “If I go to the toilet, when I come back, my table is loaded with garment pieces, and I’ll be yelled at. So I control myself from peeing to avoid scolding. I hardly drink water-only when I feel like fainting, I drink a little,” says Vanitha, a 39-year-old garment worker from Dindigul.

Many skip meals because “the lunch we bring gets spoiled in this heat..,” says Lakshmi, 30 year old spinning mill worker. Workers also report increased instances of vaginal infections, skin rashes, and menstrual complications...

Doctors and occupational health experts warn that prolonged heat exposure worsens conditions such as anemia, hypertension, and menstrual disorders. Dehydration and heat stress can also lead to chronic fatigue, kidney strain, and loss of concentration.

“We’ve seen a noticeable rise in heat-related health issues among women workers over the past two years,” says Thivyarakini, state president of the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union...

She adds, “Underreporting of heat-related illnesses is extremely common, which means the actual scale of harm is likely much higher....

Dr Sylvia Karpagam...says, heat exposure can be particularly harmful for women, who face additional risks due to cultural clothing norms, domestic responsibilities like cooking with polluting fuels, and inadequate workplace facilities such as toilets and access to drinking water—factors that heighten the risk of dehydration, infections, and long-term complications like kidney damage...

As temperatures climb, productivity inevitably declines. Extreme heat slows workers down, increases errors, and makes it harder to focus. For piece-rate workers, this translates directly into lost income. Yet factory owners often misread these effects as laziness or lack of discipline...

Low wages compound the problem by limiting access to both preventive and emergency healthcare...With so little income, many workers are unable to afford proper nutrition, take time off to rest or recover, or seek timely medical treatment.

Even though many are covered under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme—a critical social protection meant to provide low-cost healthcare—workers say they avoid using it unless absolutely necessary....

As a result, workers are left in a constant cycle of heat-related illness, lost income, and mounting medical costs—without adequate support from either the health system or their employers...

Global fashion brands...place high-volume, last-minute orders with extremely tight delivery deadlines, pushing factories in countries like India to ramp up production at any cost. To keep prices low and remain competitive, suppliers often have no choice but to enforce grueling work hours, speed up production lines, and skip rest breaks—even during extreme heat. This just-in-time production model leaves no space for adapting work schedules to rising temperatures or ensuring basic protections for workers on the factory floor.

“But it’s the brands that set the pace and profit the most—they should be responsible for basic infrastructure,” says Vanitha. “If brands helped install cooling systems or provided support for heat-protective measures, then at least suppliers could manage the running costs. Instead, they keep demanding more—faster production, higher compliance—but never invest anything back into the conditions we work in. We’re the ones paying the price.”...

Heat Action Plans (HAPs) in Tamil Nadu largely ignore factory and informal workers, focusing on hospitals and urban residents. Climate action plans remain suggestive documents with no enforceable guidelines or dedicated funds for worker protection. Occupational safety laws rarely include climate-specific provisions or heat-related protocols...

There is an urgent need for enforceable workplace protections: mandated rest breaks, access to drinking water, shaded areas, improved factory design, and regular temperature monitoring. Heat stress guidelines must be formally integrated into labor inspections and factory compliance standards. Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and sharing the costs of protecting workers from extreme heat must become a core obligation of responsible business—not an optional add-on.

Trade unions and worker representatives must play a central role in shaping and implementing these protections. Social dialogue—between employers, unions, workers and the government—must form the backbone of how such safeguards are created, monitored, and improved over time...

Global brands...should not be allowed to outsource responsibility for the consequences. When their supply chains operate in regions increasingly affected by climate breakdown, brands must move beyond audits and voluntary codes of conduct to meaningful commitments that guarantee safe and dignified working conditions.

...our laws must align with emerging global standards on human rights due diligence—mandating that brands share legal responsibility with supplier factories for working conditions, and are held accountable through binding supply chain regulations. Without such frameworks, brands will continue to profit from a system in which risk is pushed downward, and the most marginalized workers—especially women—bear the brunt of both climate and economic shocks...