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AAFA Heat Stress Toolkit
The Fashion Producer Collective manufacturers worked with the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) to launch a new Heat Stress Toolkit, which provides manufacturers and brands with practical tools to help manage rising global temperatures and workplace heat-related incidents across production regions.
As extreme heat events become more frequent and persistent, protecting workers from heat stress is an increasingly important operational priority for our industry.
The five-part toolkit builds on AAFA’s Guide to Protecting Workers from Heat Stress (published in April 2026), translating its recommendations into ready-to-use guidance and a companion workbook for manufacturers, plus implementation guidelines and a standard supplier survey questionnaire for brands.
The toolkit is open to all industry stakeholders for widespread sharing of best practices.
The Five Principles
The AAFA Heat Stress Toolkit is built around five principles that put shared risk and responsibility at the center of the approach, recognising that managing heat stress requires more than asking manufacturers to collect more data, go through another audit, or absorb the cost of investment.
01
Protecting workers.
The goal is to identify and address heat stress early, with facilities retaining the flexibility to choose controls that fit their context rather than using the toolkit as an audit or verification protocol.
02
Measuring to act.
Data should be used to trigger protection and target investment, while remaining with the facility and avoiding unnecessary or duplicative reporting requests.
03
Sharing risk and financial responsibility.
Brands and manufacturers should share responsibility for the investments and potential disruption involved in building resilience, creating the commercial conditions needed to protect workers.
04
Prioritising context over prescription.
Heat stress management needs to reflect the operational, financial, technical and local realities of each facility; there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
05
Making communication two-way.
Brands and manufacturers should work together to plan for heat stress, communicate expectations and investment needs early, and address potential impacts on production before they become crises.
A Collaborative Approach
Commissioned by AAFA, this toolkit was designed through a collaborative process. The AAFA Heat Guidance Working Group—consisting of brands, manufacturers, and worker-advocacy groups—developed the Brand Implementation Guidelines and Supplier Survey.
Meanwhile, the Fashion Producer Collective (FPC) developed the manufacturer-specific guidelines and workbook, with support from the Heat Guidance Working Group. Key contributing authors included Elevate Textiles, Inc., Epic Group, Shahi Exports, and YKK Corporation, with additional review support from Crescent Bahuman Ltd, MAS Capital (Pvt) Ltd., TAL Apparel, Yee Chain Intl., and the Vaada Hope Foundation.
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