Tenant & Landlord Resources
Landlords Role in Hot Weather
Summers are getting hotter and longer. Extreme heat events are becoming more common, and we are getting more of these days.
Our climate is warming. This change means we can expect more frequent and severe heat events in Hamilton.
Warmer summers and increases in heat waves can lead to more heat-related illnesses and deaths.
Extreme heat and humidity can be harmful to health, especially for residents of buildings that do not have adequate cooling.
Landlords and property managers can play an important role in protecting residents from heat-related illnesses. While heat increases the risk for everyone, some residents are more at risk for heat-related illnesses. Such residents include:
- Seniors
- People living with disabilities
- People with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart and respiratory conditions or people who cannot move or change position by themselves
- People experiencing mental health challenges
- People taking certain medications
- Babies and young children
- People who are involved in strenuous work outdoors for long periods
Helping tenants avoid heat-related illness
As a landlord, you can take these simple actions to decrease the risk of heat-related illness for residents:
- Provide residents access to a cool space for several hours at a time, such as a common room with air conditioning or the basement
- Keep windows in the hallways slightly open to allow air to circulate
- Use fans to draw cool air at night, but do not rely on a fan as a primary cooling device during long periods of extreme heat
- Provide information to residents or post information in areas such as the lobby about cooling places in Hamilton
- Have building staff check on at-risk residents
- Provide information about heat-related illness to residents and post information in common areas, such as the lobby. Print heat-related illness in other languages
Heat-related illnesses are usually caused by exposure to unusual or lengthened amounts of heat and humidity without adequate fluid intake or relief. They can come on quickly and have serious consequences such as long-term health problems or even death. Overexposure to UV radiation can cause sunburns, skin aging, eye cataracts and skin cancer.
Some of the most common types of heat-related illnesses and injuries are:
- Heat stroke: This heat-related illness is the most severe. It is caused by a rapid increase in body temperature and problems regulating the sweating mechanisms.
- Heat exhaustion: A disproportionate loss of water and salt caused by exposure to heat (usually due to heavy sweating). People affected may experience a fast and weak pulse rate, dizziness, nausea and muscle cramps.
- Heat syncope: A fainting episode that is caused by low blood pressure when heat causes the dilation of blood vessels.
- Heat cramps: Painful muscle spasms caused by a salt imbalance due to sweating.
- Heat rashes: Skin irritation usually caused by an inflammation of clogged sweat glands accompanied by red spots.
- Sunburns: This injury is characterized by red, painful and unusually warm skin after overexposure to UV radiation. More severe cases can be accompanied by swelling of the skin, blisters and fever.
How to help someone with a heat-related illness
You can help someone with heat-related illness by recognizing the symptoms and responding accordingly.
Symptoms of heat-related illness to watch for include:
- Rapid breathing or trouble breathing
- Weakness, dizziness or fainting
- More tired than usual
- Headache
- Confusion
- Nausea
If you think someone has a heat-related illness:
- Give the person sips of cool water, not ice-cold water
- Remove extra clothes
- Sponge or bathe the person with lukewarm water
- Move the person to a cooler location if possible
- If you or a resident feel ill, faint, have difficulty breathing or feel disoriented call 911 for immediate medical help
Heat-related Landlord Resources
Date modified