Working in Thermal Extremes

This course is suited to workers exposed to extreme temperatures, along with those responsible for planning, organising, and monitoring that work. That includes supervisors, team leaders, and health and safety personnel who need a clear understanding of thermal strain, controls, and effective job planning in hot and cold environments. It is especially useful where teams need stronger confidence in identifying issues early and acting before exposure leads to harm.

Workers exposed to heat, cold, or rapidly changing environments need to understand how thermal conditions can affect safety, wellbeing, and work performance. While thermal extremes training is not always prescribed as a mandatory course, PCBUs still need to provide the information, training, instruction, and supervision required to manage work risks safely. Training is commonly used where workers face ongoing exposure to heat stress, cold conditions, or thermal fatigue risks.

Learners need written and spoken English equivalent to NCEA Level 1 (Year 11) or an IELTS score of 5.5 or higher. If a learner may need additional support, please contact our team before enrolment to discuss available support options.

This course runs for 1 day, covering temperature regulation, thermal environment assessment, heat strain, cold stress, and the controls needed to plan work safely.

Yes, this course includes one on-course assessment for NZQA Unit Standard 17585.

This course supports achievement of NZQA Unit Standard 17585, which covers knowledge of working safely in extremes of temperature.

The course helps learners recognise heat and cold stress earlier, assess the thermal environment more confidently, and choose controls that suit the work being carried out. It also supports better planning by building understanding of how temperature, workload, and exposure time affect safe work decisions. The result is clearer judgement about when conditions need to change and what action to take.

IMPAC recommends refresher training at least every two years to help workers maintain awareness of thermal stress risks, workplace controls, and safe work practices in extreme temperature environments. Some organisations or high-risk sites may require more frequent refresher training depending on exposure levels, environmental conditions, and operational risks.

Yes, this course is available for in-house delivery nationwide. In-house training can help organisations train workers together while relating the learning to their own work environment and thermal risk conditions.

Please bring a driver’s licence or another form of photo identification to training.

In-house: $3950 + GST for up to 12 persons, with additional persons charged at $255 + GST each (maximum of 14).