Previous research

Previous research demonstrates that prolonged and frequent heatwaves, driven by climate change, represent one of the most serious threats to both occupational environments and public health. These extreme weather events are cited as a leading global cause of workplace fatalities and overall mortality [15,16]. A wide range of occupational groups are considered vulnerable to the impacts of climate change [17]. For instance, the increasing incidence of forest fires has led to a rise in workplace accidents among firefighters [18]. Similarly, the growing intensity and frequency of hurricanes has heightened the risks faced by rescue workers [19], as well as those involved in post-disaster clean-up operations [20]. Extended periods of drought contribute to worsening air pollution, which poses health risks to numerous occupational groups [21]. Moreover, it is argued that climate change affects all forms of work to some extent, as it fundamentally alters the conditions and experiences of working life.

All labour is made insecure by climate change given it threatens human and ecological life; impacts the capacity of capitalism to maintain stable accumulation; and often negatively impacts the capacity to labour. In other words, climate change processes – including climatic heat rises – impact the broader processes of social reproduction, work life longevity and job security, and have consequences for all workers [22] (p560).

Although workers in general are affected by climate change, the degree of vulnerability appears to vary across different groups. Studies conducted in countries such as China, the United States, and Australia identify a range of health issues associated with working in extreme heat. Among other findings, these studies suggest that older workers may be more susceptible to heat-related injuries than younger counterparts [23,24]. Some studies suggest that women are disproportionately affected by climate change [25,26], particularly in developing countries where populations are often reliant on natural resources increasingly threatened by environmental changes [27]. In contrast, other studies indicate that men may face greater challenges in certain contexts, such as prolonged exposure to extreme heat, which may heighten their risk of heat-related health issues [28]. In addition to gendered vulnerabilities, individuals who are socially, culturally, economically, or politically marginalised are considered especially at risk, as they often lack access to protective resources and adaptive capacity [29,30].

Climate change is thus viewed as a factor that amplifies workers’ vulnerability and the risks associated with their labour, but it is also understood as potentially generating resistance. As stated by Newman and Humphrys, climate change is ‘a component of precariousness in the labour process and is subject to both intensification and resistance’ [22] (p568). What is said to exacerbate workers’ vulnerability is that climate change interacts with other structural societal changes occurring in many parts of the world, such as globalisation and neoliberal policies advocating a more flexible and deregulated labour market. These developments have adversely affected many occupational groups, especially those in temporary employment [31–33].

Studies focusing specifically on the construction industry reveal that it is among the sectors most vulnerable to climate change, as it is significantly affected by extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves [5,6]. A study from the United States shows that although construction workers represent just 6% of the total workforce, they account for 36% of all occupational heat-related fatalities between 1992 and 2016 [7]. Climate change and severe weather conditions pose significant risks in the daily work carried out on construction sites, for example, strong winds can destabilise workers [34]. A literature review examining factors that influence thermal stress resilience among outdoor workers, identifies several different risk factors: individual-related heat-exposure risk factors (e.g., dehydration); environmental-related heat-exposure risk factors (e.g., high humidity), and occupational-related heat-exposure risk factors (e.g., ‘inadequate cool housing designs for rest’ and ‘the absence of occupational heat stress guidelines and adaptation strategies’) [34] (p4–5). In addition to the safety challenges and increased health risks associated with severe weather, productivity also declines [ 35–37].

Despite the wealth of available knowledge, many employees remain unaware of the risks associated with heat exposure. Several studies underscore the importance of raising awareness and implementing targeted education and training programmes to address heat-related health and safety concerns [38]. Globally, there are significant differences between countries in the measures taken to address the health challenges that climate change poses for outdoor workers. While more developed countries have introduced various initiatives, similar measures are often absent in developing countries, such as Nigeria [39]. However, it has been noted that even Sweden is slow to adapt its labour market to meet climate-related challenges [15].

Studies examining the impact of climate change on professionals also address adaptation and coping strategies—the ways in which individuals manage the effects of climate change, such as extreme heat [28]. A range of protective strategies are highlighted, including work rotation, reduced physical effort, mechanisation, and automation [34,40]. Labour adaptation is often invisible, as the work involved tends to be unpaid or underpaid [41], which emphasises the importance of recognising everyday climate adaptation, and cautions against viewing such practices merely as short-term coping strategies, since they can be highly significant for both work and the broader work environment [42]. Crucially, climate adaptation must be understood as embedded in everyday practices rather than solely in formal workplace strategies [43]. However, adaptation strategies—although developed with good intentions—can produce unintended consequences, including negative climate and environmental impacts [44].

Research shows that the prior knowledge required to develop effective strategies for coping with extreme heat depends on factors such as education, age, culture, local security systems, and national context [45]. For instance, older workers in developing countries often have lower awareness of climate change and climate adaptation compared to their counterparts in more developed nations [46].

The research field examining the vulnerability of outdoor workers in relation to climate change is extensive, but it tends to concentrate on the health consequences of extreme heat and often focuses on conditions in warmer southern countries. This exploratory study, however, foregrounds workers’ experiences, aiming to investigate the concrete practices and emotions associated with climate change, as well as how these are given meaning. It centres on Sweden—a country commonly associated with snow and cold, yet increasingly affected by the impacts of climate change. The study considers a range of extreme weather conditions, including high temperatures, strong winds, increased precipitation, and cold. It makes a significant contribution to research on the vulnerability of outdoor workers by identifying various forms of vulnerability and examining how these are shaped and intensified by extreme weather events. A key aspect of the article’s novelty and scope lies in its discussion of how the effects of climate change on construction workers acquire specific meaning and significance through the production of desynchronised temporalities. This theoretical perspective calls for a fundamental reconceptualisation of labour—not as a passive commodity simply mobilised for capital accumulation, but as embodied social subjects whose lived experiences are deeply embedded within the fabric of production. Labour, in this view, is not external to economic processes but actively shapes and is shaped by them. Challenging the abstraction of labour in neoclassical economics and aligning with more critical traditions, this perspective includes the often-invisible dimensions of social reproduction, as well as the everyday struggles and negotiations through which workers assert agency, resist exploitation, and navigate precarious conditions [47].

Aim

This paper draws on construction workers’ narratives about their experiences of manual labour in the construction sector. The aim is to explore the various forms of vulnerability that they expressed and how they are related to challenging weather conditions and climate change. Key to this exploration is the concept of desynchronisation [48], which in this study denotes the tension between the differing temporalities that characterise work in the construction sector.

Theoretical perspectives

The material was approached from a semi-realistic perspective, meaning that the interview narratives were analysed not only as subjective expressions of personal experience, but also as accounts that shape individuals’ understanding of themselves and their surroundings, as well as their sense of identity, community, and belonging [53]. According to this view, narratives are understood as partly reflecting structural factors, including the conditions that influence how they are formed and articulated. This does not imply that the interview narratives are seen as unmediated or entirely factual representations of work in the construction sector, nor as direct reflections of the participants’ objective working conditions. Rather, they are viewed as offering meaningful insights into perceived vulnerabilities and the structural conditions that shape workers’ experiences. When multiple accounts converge, they may reveal patterns that point to broader dynamics within the sector, thereby contributing to a more nuanced understanding of labour precarity.

‘Vulnerability’, as used in this study, refers to how the participants portrayed themselves as subordinate, affected by, and exposed to their working conditions, including their perception of an increase in extreme weather events. While commonly associated with notions of victimhood, recent theoretical developments highlight the dual nature of vulnerability, emphasising that it can also serve as a source of agency and mobilisation [54,55]. This article adopts an experience-based perspective on vulnerability, focusing on identifying the moments described by construction workers as producing vulnerability. In practice, vulnerability is understood both as an outcome of working conditions and as a factor that actively shapes those conditions. Thus, ‘vulnerability’ is not treated as a fixed or unambiguous subject position, but rather as a power-laden relation to the contexts that affect individuals [55]. The concept draws attention to how work is currently organised and what this organisation means for employees, both in terms of their lived experiences and the narratives they construct around their work [56].

While vulnerability, like precarity, has been described as ‘inherent to all labor–capital relationships, to varying degrees’ [57] (p449), our analysis focuses on how vulnerability is narratively constructed within the interview material. Attention is given to how this emerges through the narratives shared by construction workers, and to what these articulations reveal about their lived experiences and structural positioning. In this sense, vulnerability is not treated as a fixed condition, but as a dynamic and contextually produced phenomenon that contributes to our understanding of labour under shifting economic and environmental conditions. In line with this, vulnerability also emerges as a position—one that individuals may align with or distance themselves from. This positioning is shaped through narrative practices and is contingent on the specific forms of vulnerability articulated in the material. Rather than being a static attribute, vulnerability is thus understood as a relational and discursively constructed stance, embedded in the ways construction workers make sense of their experiences.

Across the interviews, vulnerability was consistently linked to notions of risk, particularly in relation to perceived dangers, threats, and the potential for workplace accidents. In this context, risk is not treated as an objective or fixed phenomenon, but rather as a socially constructed framework through which various problems, hazards, and threats are interpreted and managed [58]. It is understood as a subjective experience, shaped by its relation to external conditions and mediated by broader social and discursive contexts. Consequently, the interview narratives, viewed as meaning-making processes, are informed not only by participants’ lived experiences but also by dominant discourses on climate and weather, as reproduced in workplace settings, media representations, and societal debates more broadly.

It should be emphasised that the participants did not passively accept their working conditions; rather, they demonstrated agency throughout the interviews. Their critical accounts were formed in opposition to both employers and the more general capitalist system of production that they regarded as prioritising profits over the well-being of workers. This oppositional tendency was interpreted in terms of oppositional narratives, or ‘counter stories’ [59], that find strength in feelings of vulnerability [55]. Counter stories are characterised by having an evaluative content and by being explicitly or implicitly directed towards something or someone. Oppositional narratives often reflect power relations and may involve protests or challenges to dominant societal discourses [60,61]. In this way, they function to delegitimise, challenge and potentially even to reject dominant interpretations of social phenomena.

In the efforts to contextualise the participants’ narratives, the concept of temporality serves as a guiding framework. According to Rosa, (late) modern society is characterised by multiple forms of acceleration: technological acceleration (e.g., goal-oriented developments such as faster modes of transportation), social acceleration (e.g., reduced family stability and more frequent job changes), and acceleration of the pace of life (e.g., the pervasive experience of time scarcity) [48]. Acceleration occurs both at the individual and societal levels and at different rates, which means that people’s lived experiences may become misaligned with dominant societal rhythms or temporal expectations. The concept of desynchronisation provides a valuable analytical lens for interpreting participants’ narratives, particularly regarding their struggles to make sense of conflicting temporal experiences.

As demonstrated below, the participants’ narratives reveal that their workplaces were shaped by overlapping and desynchronised temporal structures, which played a significant role in producing and exacerbating workers’ vulnerabilities closely tied to weather-related conditions.

Findings: Weather-related vulnerability

The interview stories reflect an ambivalent approach to work in the construction sector. On the one hand, the work was discussed in positive terms and described as rewarding, varied, and instructive. The participants emphasised that they were often faced with new challenges in a positive sense. The opportunity to meet new people, make new contacts, and create networks was seen as very fulfilling: ‘You meet a hell of a lot of fun people’ (Participant 12). According to the interview stories, the participants appreciated that every day they could see the concrete results of their work, that they benefited from their professional skills during their free time, and that they felt that they were contributing to society.

On the other hand, work was also linked to ideas of a substandard work environment, characterised by tasks that were both physically and mentally demanding. Risks, including dangers, threats, and uncertainties form a central part of the narratives and contribute to the recreation of the construction worker as a vulnerable figure, and of workers as exposed to a variety of dangers and risks.

In their narratives, participants consistently framed weather and climate as central to their work, describing how increasingly frequent episodes of challenging weather complicate daily tasks. They often pointed to practical issues, including the greater number of abrupt temperature swings that can, for example, create hazards or delays with scaffolding. Difficult weather conditions also mean that the perceived risks of work increase. The research participants mentioned both direct risks—such as strong winds that can cause loose objects to blow around and injure workers—and indirect risks—such as high temperatures making workers dizzy and leading them to make mistakes. The focus on dangers and risks, and on the difficult situation this created for everyday construction work, meant that the narratives produced both positions and situations of vulnerability. The following sections outline five themes that emerged from the construction workers’ narratives about vulnerability in the workplace and how these are affected by adverse weather conditions. While the themes are interrelated, they are presented separately for the sake of clarity.

Extreme weather and bodily vulnerability

One recurring theme in the stories about construction work in general was the vulnerability of the physical body. ‘You probably don’t leave the construction industry without having pain. You probably don’t’ (Participant 5), one participant stated, describing pain as almost inherent to the occupation. Problems with knees, shoulders, necks, and backs, as well as permanent damage from vibration and injuries caused by heavy lifting and poor ergonomics, were described as common, as was exposure to dust, chemical products, asbestos, and quartz. Everyday construction work was described as a situation of constant risk, including workplace accidents, some of which are fatal:

… as soon as you go out on the construction site, there’s danger. It could be a fall from a height. It could be cuts. Wear, noise, falling objects, so there are endless risks. A lot of black dust on construction sites these days. (Participant 2)

The interview stories were filled with descriptions of the physical body’s vulnerability in construction work, but also with detailed accounts of the factors that heightened this vulnerability: the weather. Participants recounted experiences where high temperatures are linked to fatigue, exhaustion, and confusion. Heat was said to cause personnel to act unwisely and irrationally, adding to the situation of risk. A consequence of this, the participants said, is not only that the dangers of the work increase, but also that the work takes longer to perform. Participants gave concrete examples of their adaptation strategies during heatwaves, including taking more breaks, drinking more often, and planning the work more carefully (Participant 2). Thus, the applied adaptation strategies in the form of ‘personal protective factors’ [40] result in an undesirable delay. However, and paradoxically, another consequence of high temperatures is that work takes longer, and due to time pressure, workers do not have time to take the breaks that they need to be able to perform the work safely. A carpenter described a work task in a factory during a heatwave:

We were all completely broken down. The company bought rehydration drinks and stuff like that, that we could slurp down during the day. But you still don’t get the fluids you need and there’s nowhere to cool off because there’s no air conditioning in the barracks or in the establishments where you sit and have lunch. So, you can never cool off anywhere. (Participant 4)

In this quote, the linking of difficult weather conditions and inadequate equipment results in an almost unbearable work situation, with dehydration causing workers to feel ‘broken down’. Others described even worse situations, with high temperatures causing heatstroke to the extent that workers required care and attention.

Heavy snow was also described as increasing workplace risks. It often meant that a significant portion of the day was spent making the workplace accessible, leading to delays and increased stress. Cold and precipitation were primarily associated with the risks that came with not being able to, or not having time to shovel snow, or with situations where changes in temperature made the construction site become ice-covered: ‘… it’s slipping accidents that are the biggest culprit when the cold comes’ (Participant 5). If there is snow on a roof, said one of the participants, it can be difficult to determine where it is safe to go:

Maybe when you arrive at work after a weekend, it’s snowed. Then you don’t really remember where there’s metal and where there isn’t, and then it’s easy to step on the metal and then off you go. It’s like walking on ice. (Participant 3)

Rain was described as a similar problem: ‘… scaffolding becomes slippery, ramps become slippery. […] You drop machines’ (Participant 5). According to one scaffolding fitter, a lot of rain means that the work rate decreases by 70–80% (Participant 13). One participant mentioned that rain-related delays necessitated the use of additional safety measures for work at great heights, such as harnesses and safety lines. However, the harness is considered a risk factor in itself:

...it doesn’t help much if we’re two people working on a roof and I fall and am dangling on the rope. Then the other person can’t save me, he just can’t do it, and then he has to get help. And in this harness that we have today, you can’t hang on to them for very long before you faint, and you can get really serious injuries. (Participant 3)

This participant further explained that, according to the company’s policy, when working with a harness and rope, a rescue plan should be implemented in less than five minutes. However, this is rarely possible, because it depends on where the accident occurs and whether anyone else knows that it has occurred. Thus, the applied adaptation strategies were usually in the form of ‘personal protective factors’ [40] that focused on the individual worker. Therefore, these strategies also result in an undesirable delay and ultimately tend to pit workers’ health and safety in opposition to the companies’ time planning.

Extreme weather and material vulnerability

Work in the construction sector is largely manual and dependent upon the availability of good-quality equipment and materials. Material vulnerability captures the risks associated with inadequate equipment and materials. According to the participants, access to good-quality equipment varies with the size and character of the companies. They stated that larger companies rent equipment, which means that workers have access to the latest and most efficient equipment. Smaller companies, on the other hand, often buy tools and machines that will be used for a longer period, which can be a disadvantage because they quickly become obsolete. Older tools, the participants pointed out, are often based on internal-combustion engines; they vibrate more and produce more emissions than new electric ones, and they are heavier to work with, making the work become more time-consuming. But new equipment is expensive and participants often described situations where they felt trapped with older tools because entrepreneurs were eager to keep expenses down.

Certain technologies, and certain equipment, were thus associated with ideas of something old-fashioned and outdated, while new technologies and new equipment were understood as advantageous in terms of both usability and efficiency. In addition to the fact that the older tools were associated with various risks, such as vibration injuries, they were also said to be rooted in a different time (‘bought 20 years ago’) and temporality (time-consuming, heavy to work with), which made it difficult—and dangerous—to work at the pace expected. According to one plumber, it is the pursuit for profit that prevents entrepreneurs from investing in modern, safer machines (Participant 4).

Another question on materiality concerned the clothing that companies offer their employees, which was also seen as crucial for how work is experienced:

… it’s about what clothes you get from the company. […] What kind of selection is there? Who’s developed the selection? Is it in Stockholm or is it up in Luleå? Are they customised? No, they’re not that either. Are you allowed to try on different sizes? No, many times, it’s the managers who bring a bag here: ‘You should have this.’ And it’s also, what gloves are you allowed to wear? Are you allowed to wear the best winter gloves? No, you can’t, because they’re too expensive. […] So many construction workers actually have to pay for this [inadequate clothing] with their bodies. (Participant 4)

When discussing vulnerabilities linked to material conditions, participants frequently emphasised the impact of weather-related factors. They described a range of practical challenges arising from extreme temperatures, for instance, battery-powered tools tend to lose power in cold weather and are prone to overheating in high heat. These environmental conditions were seen as directly affecting both the efficiency and safety of their work.

Weather-related problems with equipment were also considered to lead to reduced work efficiency, leading to various work phases taking longer than usual, which was experienced as both frustrating and stressful. The participants also pointed out that just as with high temperatures, snow and rain as well as the increasingly strong winds result in more time-consuming work: ‘Tasks that would normally take an hour can take a whole day’ (Participant 14). For example, tarpaulins blow apart more often than before, and scaffolding and sheets must be anchored more carefully. Due to time pressure, workers reported having been forced to weld in the rain, which they described as very dangerous, because it can lead to electric shocks (Participant 14).

The interview stories illustrate that not only extreme weather but also temperature fluctuations can lead to an increased need for work to be covered when a cold morning turns into a warm afternoon. Precipitation such as heavy rainfall or snow can make it difficult to protect all insulation, and instead it is transported in batches, which means more work and extended working hours, and, paradoxically, more fossil-fuel emissions (Participant 4).

Clothing was also described as a problem that increased with extreme weather. Participants mentioned that employers often prioritise cheap workwear instead of clothing that is best suited to the prevailing weather and climate conditions, which contributed to an increase in material vulnerability during difficult weather. They also pointed out that company policies do not permit workers to wear shorts, which is understandable from a safety point of view, but also makes the work more arduous at high temperatures. The fact that many employees are required to wear so-called high-visibility clothing was also seen as a problem in hot weather. These clothes were likened to plastic bags that trap all moisture and only make it hotter. While the participants generally respected and supported safety policies, extreme weather evoked feelings of being trapped between safety and well-being, sometimes leading them to ignore safety regulations.

Extreme weather and hierarchical vulnerability

Although the participants had experience working in companies of varying sizes, their narratives converged around a shared sense of vulnerability. This vulnerability was closely tied to their positioning within rigid organisational hierarchies—particularly in larger companies—where clear and impermeable divisions existed between different groups, most notably between top management and blue-collar workers. These structural separations contributed to a sense of exclusion and powerlessness that was consistently reflected across the interviews:

We have people who provide information at construction starts and things like that. But it’s nothing like... well, you really don’t know what they’re doing, but they come out and provide information about things like that. But it’s kind of above our pay grade you could say. (Participant 5)

The information coming from management was described as generally having a one-way character, with construction workers not being part of the work planning, which takes place at a higher level within the organisation.

Since extreme weather often prolongs construction times and increases costs, suggestions to adapt to the weather by making purchases were sometimes met with explicit references to hierarchy that were not perceived as possible to challenge:

There are entrepreneurs who say things like: ‘Sit down and shut up, do as I say. You get this, you should use this stuff.’ Dinosaur stuff that he bought when he started the company 20 years ago that’s terrible to use compared to modern stuff. (Participant 4)

…if the project isn’t going to be financially viable, it becomes very clear that they [the managers] think it’s their money being wasted or that ‘it’s my money that’s being spent on this now when I have to compensate your [lack of] effort by contributing 20% myself.’ (Participant 8)

In both quotes above, vulnerability is present because the hierarchical relations are made personal, and employees were personally blamed if a project did not seem to be on time due to weather. Because workers generally accepted the hierarchies—presenting themselves as subordinates to managers, supervisors, to the companies more generally, as well as to an overarching economic system—they sometimes refrained from offering criticism or making demands.

Overall, hierarchical vulnerability can be understood as an expression of class relations. The narratives construct a classed position, closely associated with manual, blue-collar labour, as inherently vulnerable. This vulnerability was frequently articulated as a key reason for workers’ limited ability to influence their working conditions, particularly during episodes of extreme weather. In this sense, class position is not only structurally imposed but also narratively produced, shaping how agency and constraint are experienced and expressed.

Extreme weather and social vulnerability

Some participants worked in service departments, travelling between several different assignments, sometimes during the same day, including to private customers. Social vulnerability concerns the relationships with customers, particularly workers being vulnerable to their discontent when weather requires special measures or leads to delays. The following story is about working in high temperatures:

It gets a little strange, if I bring—let’s say to your living room where I’m going to change the radiator—bring a fan with me to cool me down. Then you might think: ‘how much power does it consume?’ Yes, I can promise you that, it can happen, it has happened with fans: ‘how much power does it consume, should I pay for it or not?’... People look at the clock a lot and everything around them. (Participant 1)

This story illustrates a socially stressful situation, as customers sometimes object when workers bring equipment that uses electricity, which incurs additional costs but is not strictly necessary for the work itself. In another example, which involved roofing during a heatwave, the roofers were scolded by a customer who thought the work was taking too long (Participant 4). This customer’s reaction led to a socially awkward and difficult situation:

I’ve been on jobs when it’s been extremely hot, when we’ve put a roof on a customer’s house, for example, and got a lot of scolding because we were far too slow. But it was just that you couldn’t walk on the roofing felt because it melted, and you tore it apart with your foot when you just stepped on the roof slope. It definitely becomes a problem during certain periods and days. (Participant 4)

This example describes work being delayed due to hot weather, which also meant a difficult social situation due to the customer’s reaction. Another social risk reflected in the material concerns leisure time. When taking about working in difficult weather conditions, especially high temperatures, the participants recalled situations in which they had become completely exhausted and could not cope with a ‘normal’ family life after work, which, they asserted, could affect both their life partners and children.

Extreme weather and market-driven vulnerability

… money rules in some way, that’s how it is... (Participant 15)

Everyday work was repeatedly articulated with change, especially changing structural conditions within the labour market. Market-driven vulnerability describes how a situation of vulnerability was ascribed to global processes of neoliberalism and marketisation, characterised by deregulation, privatisation, and competition. In the interviews, such processes were associated with a pervasive economisation of the construction industry, including increasingly shorter build-times, increased involvement of subcontractors and project-based constructions, increased reliance on global migrant labour who speak neither Swedish nor English, and a fragmentation of work and a subsequent loss of control, sense of cohesion, and professional pride. There was a strong association between such processes and an elevated risk of accidents. As a consequence, the participants said, individual workers tend to take personal responsibility for delays, feel increasingly stressed and pressured to work harder and faster, and consequently feel compelled to compromise workplace safety. In their stories about the situation, the participants made comparisons over time, with past periods being attributed particular advantages:

Yes, it gets worse and worse with each passing year. Go back 15–20 years and it wasn’t like this at all. Back then, there was more safety awareness […] Now we should just make as much money as possible, build as cheaply as possible, and charge as much as possible. (Participant 6).

Market-driven vulnerability was thus re-created when the participants attributed the causes of a transformed work situation to external factors on a global scale and beyond their control. Just as with the other types of vulnerability, market-driven vulnerability tended to be severely affected by the weather, or rather, it tended to result in reduced preparedness to deal with extreme or unpredictable weather. This was primarily because stress, reduced opportunities to take important breaks for rest and hydration, language barriers that caused confusion, and the reduced cohesion and solidarity resulting from increased staff turnover led to greater carelessness with safety and an increase in misunderstandings and miscommunication.

Limitations

While the study design offers valuable insights, some methodological limitations should be acknowledged. First, the findings rely on self‑reported data, capturing subjective perceptions rather than objectively measured exposures or risks. Although qualitative research does not aim for statistical representativeness, the views captured here may not fully encompass the range of experiences present in broader or more diverse groups. Second, the reliance on semi‑structured interviews introduces potential social desirability and recall bias; participants may have framed experiences in ways consistent with workplace norms or with what they believed interviewers’ expectations to be, and retrospective accounts of weather‑related challenges may also reflect imperfect memory. To mitigate these potential biases, we encouraged respondents to provide specific, concrete examples rather than general or abstract descriptions. Third, the gender imbalance in the sample—two women among sixteen participants—limits the ability to explore gender‑specific experiences and may underrepresent women’s perspectives. Fourth, the study’s Swedish context may restrict transferability, as labour conditions, regulatory frameworks, and climate‑related risks vary across countries. Fifth, the involvement of two researchers in both data collection and analysis provided rich insights through direct engagement and exploration of emerging themes, although it may also have influenced interpretation, despite the use of reflexive practices and peer debriefing to mitigate preconceptions. To enhance the trustworthiness of the analysis, interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was reached, reflective memoing was used to document analytic decisions, and themes were triangulated among the authors—one of whom had not participated in the interviews—to strengthen interpretive rigour. These limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings.