Online news monitoring as a complementary sentinel tool for occupational heat-related adverse events: a six-year descriptive study in Italy (2020–2025)

Introduction Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, with significant impacts on occupational health. Work-related heat illnesses and injuries are often underestimated by traditional surveillance systems. This study aimed to assess the use of national and local daily newspapers as a sentinel surveillance tool for monitoring occupational adverse events associated with heat stress in Italy. Methods Online news articles published between May and September from 2020 to 2025 were analyzed and selected according to the PECO framework. Events involving heat-related illnesses and injuries potentially associated with high temperatures in occupational settings in Italy were included. Demographic and occupational information was collected for each event. Climate exposure was assessed using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) based on the ERA5 Human Thermal Comfort (ERA5-HEAT) dataset. Results A total of 120 media-identified events were included; annual counts ranged from 4 in 2020 to 33 in 2025. Overall, 50.8% occurred in July. Most workers were male (87.5%; average age 50 years). The sectors most frequently represented were construction (35.0%) and agriculture (20.0%), predominantly involving outdoor activities (79.2%). Maximum UTCI values, when available, indicated strong or very strong heat stress in 98.1% of media-identified cases. Fatal outcomes accounted for 55.0% of events. In univariable analysis, advancing age was associated with an increased risk of fatal outcome (OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01–1.09). The association between maximum UTCI category and outcome was not statistically significant. Discussion Systematic analysis of online news media may provide a complementary sentinel approach for detecting occupational events potentially associated with heat exposure.