Call for heat stress preventative measures as heatwaves increase

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has warned that heat stress is having serious impacts on the safety and health of workers, as they are exposed to higher daily temperatures as well as more frequent and severe heatwaves.

The ILO said the number of workers suffering the consequences of excessive heat is alarming and occupational safety and health protections have struggled to keep up. It said heat stress preventative measures should be implemented as a matter of urgency.

In a new report, Heat at work: Implications for safety and health, the ILO analysed national legislation to address heat stress from 21 countries across the world, identifying common provisions for workplace level measures. “While provisions in national legislation exist to protect workers from excessive heat, in most cases these are general in nature and do not adequately address the intensifying climate change-related dangers many workers face daily,” said the ILO.

It said these commonly include maximum temperature limits and guidelines for adaptive measures at the workplace level. The ILO noted that some countries are now revising their laws or developing new specific regulations to address heat at work.

The organisation said heat stress can immediately impact workers on the job, leading to illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and even death. In the longer term, workers can develop serious and debilitating chronic diseases, impacting the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, as well as the kidneys.

It added that while workers in all sectors may be adversely affected, some face unique exposure situations placing them at higher risk, including, migrant and informal workers, pregnant women, indoor workers in unventilated environments, and those working outdoors in physically demanding roles.

The research revealed that workplace exposures to excessive heat in Africa, the Arab States, and Asia and the Pacific were above the global average (71%) – at 92.9%, 83.6% and 74.7% of the workforce, respectively. Europe and Central Asia region had the greatest increase in excessive heat exposure, with a 17.3% increase from 2000 to 2020. This is almost double the global average increase (8.8% from 2000 to 2020).

The Africa and Americas regions have the greatest proportion of occupational injuries attributable to excessive heat, at 7.2% and 6.7% of all occupational injuries respectively, the research found. The Americas, along with the Europe and Central Asia region, were found to have the most rapidly increasing proportion of heat-related occupational injuries since the year 2000, with increases of 33.3% and 16.4% respectively.

The ILO said that prevention and control strategies for heat stress in the working environment need to be strengthened as a matter of urgency, as existing strategies to combat heat stress are proving inadequate, especially in the context of rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.

Despite the presence of laws and regulations aimed at safeguarding workers from heat stress many of these provisions were established in the past, often with basic requirements that fail to address the complexities of contemporary heat stress challenges, the ILO said.

It called for tailored strategies for different sectors, and both indoor and outdoor workers, to be developed and implemented, noting that heat stress disproportionately impacts certain sectors and occupations, which are both in outdoor settings but also indoor, with some in particularly vulnerable situations such as in factories (e.g. female workers in the garment sector).

The ILO added: “Workplace protection practices can be simple and affordable. Scientific evidence has shown that many effective ways to protect workers are inexpensive and easy to implement. These include the provision of adequate hydration; work breaks with cool, shaded and ventilated rest areas; modified work schedules; and heat acclimatisation programmes.”

And it pointed out that the safety and health of workers should be protected during all periods of excessive heat, not only during heatwaves. “As the majority of worker exposures and injuries linked to excessive heat occur outside heatwaves, protective measures should be applied whenever excessive heat poses a risk to worker safety and health, not just during heatwaves,” it said.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) called for a commitment by all governments and employers to enhance policies and practices addressing heat stress through social dialogue and collective bargaining.

ITUC general secretary Luc Triangle, said: “As climate change intensifies, the role of trade unions in advocating for safe working conditions has never been more critical. Workers must have the right and freedom to organise to ensure their voices are heard, their safety is ensured, and their health is protected. Upholding these fundamental rights is not just a matter of law but a necessity to continue working in a more challenging environment.”