Heatwaves are becoming more common and intense, making employees who have to work in these extreme conditions more vulnerable than ever. As a result, the UN is saying urgent action is needed to protect workers from heat stress.
But what actions, exactly? In the following, we take you through six steps needed to protect workers from heat stress.
WMO confirms that heat stress is on the rise
Indeed, 2024 was the warmest year on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The global temperature averaged 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels
Nor was last year a one-off. The past ten years, in fact, have been the warmest on record, demonstrating an ongoing warming trend.
Now, half the global population experiences the adverse consequences of high environmental temperatures.
Heat stress in the workplace is unproductive and dangerous
Amongst that population are workers, particularly manual workers in the agriculture, construction, and fishing sectors.
Increasingly, a scientific consensus has formed that for these professionals, work in high environmental temperatures threatens the ability to live a healthy life. Health risks include heatstroke, dehydration, kidney dysfunction, and neurological disorders.
For employers, having workers perform in hazardous conditions also lowers productivity. By how much, though?
According to a new joint report published by the World Health Organization and the WMO, worker productivity drops by two to three percent for every degree above 20 degrees Celsius.
As a result, occupational heat stress needs to be on everyone’s radar. Recent heatwaves in Europe, for instance, demonstrate that extreme heat isn’t just a concern for countries located near the equator.
Steps to mitigate heat stress in the workplace
So, what needs to be done? Employers might think reliance on public heat-health warning systems, national or city-scale prevention programs, and/or the personal behaviors of their own employees is enough. However, these external interventions have been shown to have limited relevance for workers.
A better place to start, according to the experts at the WHO and WMO, is workplace heat stress monitoring. Workplace heat stress monitoring is a qualitative assessment, which can be later confirmed by quantitative methods, of a range of job and personal risk factors, including issues related to a worker’s return to work after severe health outcomes associated with heat illness.
The purpose of this initial assessment is to see whether further action, i.e., a full-fledged occupational heat action program, is needed to mitigate the risks of extreme heat.
Who would that program look like? Experts recommend taking the following steps:
1. Address local weather characteristics
Develop occupational heat-health policies, plans, and advisories to address local weather characteristics as well as job and worker specificities.
2. Focus on at-risk worker populations
Give particular attention to certain population groups such as middle-aged and older individuals, those who are physically unfit, and people with chronic health conditions. These populations are more vulnerable to the physiological strain caused by workplace heat stress.
3. Widen the tent to experts
Train first responders, health experts, employers, and workers about the mild and severe health outcomes associated with workplace heat stress. While the treatment for most of these conditions is well known, they are often misdiagnosed or go unrecognized, and this can have serious negative effects on patient health.
Co-create occupational heat-health policies and programs with key stakeholders, including managers and employers, workers, trade unions, representatives of self-employed persons, experts in environmental, physiological, ergonomic safety, health and safety representatives, occupational health experts, and representatives from local authorities. Engagement with the general public is also important.
4. Develop targeted policies
Design occupational heat-health policies and programs that mitigate workplace heat stress, while taking into account the practical feasibility, economic viability and environmental sustainability of the recommended strategies.
5. Get the right technology
Adopt technological solutions, such as safety management software, to augment both work safety and productivity.
6. Create a supportive safety culture
Support the implementation of research on the efficacy of occupational heat-health advisories and relevant policies to ensure the highest level of protection for workers.
Finally, extreme heat is making work unsafe. And it’s important for employers to listen to the experts, develop best-practice programs to mitigate the effects of heat stress, and ensure safe work.
Of course, other forms of work can be unsafe, too. Sometimes, they even overlap with work in extreme heat. So, if you have workers involved in hazardous operations and other forms of non-routine work, it might be time to create a permit to work program. What’s that? Check out our Guide to Developing a Permit to Work System for more.
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