Andrea Oates looks at the impact that excessive heat resulting from climate change can have on health and safety.

“Extreme heat is the new abnormal,” said Guterres, as he launched a global call to action with four areas of focus including protections for workers.

A new report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Heat at work: Implications for safety and health, warns that more than 70 per cent of the global workforce - 2.4 billion people - are now at risk of extreme heat, and the Europe and Central Asia region has the most rapidly increasing workforce exposure to excessive heat. There was a 17.3 per cent increase between 2000 and 2020, almost double the global average increase of 8.8 per cent over this period.

The report warns that countries “previously unaccustomed to heat will face unfamiliar threats which they may be ill-equipped to deal with”.

What is the impact of excessive heat at work?

Excessive heat causes almost 23 million workplace injuries worldwide, according to the ILO. These include heat exhaustion, heatstroke and even death.

And in the longer term, workers are developing serious and debilitating chronic diseases affecting the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and the kidneys, the report says. Those at higher risk include migrant and informal workers, pregnant women, indoor workers in unventilated environments and those working outdoors in physically demanding roles.

There is also an impact on mental health, while accidents and injuries can result from reduced cognitive performance, slippery and heated surfaces, and unsuitable personal protective equipment (PPE).

Earlier this year, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) highlighted research findings from a 2020 United States study showing that when temperatures rise above 30°C, the risk of workplace accidents increases by 5-7 per cent, and when they exceed 38°C accidents are 10 per cent to 15 per cent more likely.

António Guterres also highlighted the impact of working in high temperatures on the bottom line. As daily temperatures rise above 34^oC, labour productivity drops by 50 per cent. According to the ILO report, it was previously thought that workers’ productivity is reduced when the WBGT wet bulb globe temperature – which measures factors including humidity as well as air temperature – rises above 28^oC. But more recent studies have found productivity reductions in environments as cool as 16^oC, rising exponentially with every 1^oC in WBGT.

“Heat stress at work is projected to cost the global economy $2.4 trillion by 2030,” said Guterres, up from $280 billion in the mid-1990s.

What about the UK?

Here in the UK, in July 2022 the Met Office confirmed a record-breaking temperature of more than 40°C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, and the new Labour Government has committed to “modernising health and safety guidance with reference to extreme temperatures, preventative action and steps to ensure safety at work”. In its Plan to make work pay – delivering a new deal for workers, the party recognised that working temperatures in some sectors are “regularly unacceptably high”, including for those working in strenuous and sedentary jobs, “causing serious health and safety concerns”.

At present, there is no maximum working temperature set out in UK law. Regulation 7 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 says: “During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable” and “excessive effects of sunlight on temperature shall be avoided”. There should also be a sufficient number of thermometers provided so workers can determine the temperature in any indoor workplace.

The ACoP approved code of practice to the regulations states that “the temperature inside the workplace should provide reasonable comfort without the need for special clothing. If reasonable comfort cannot be achieved because of hot or cold processes, all reasonable steps should be taken to achieve a temperature which is as close as possible to comfortable.”

If the temperature in a workroom is uncomfortably high, it adds, the employer should take all reasonable steps to achieve a reasonably comfortable temperature, by insulating hot plants or pipes, providing air-cooling plant, shading windows, or siting workstations away from places subject to radiant heat for example. And if a reasonably comfortable temperature cannot be achieved throughout a workroom, they should provide local heating or cooling. In extremely hot weather, fans and increased ventilation may be used instead of local cooling.

Suitable protective clothing and rest facilities should be provided if local heating or cooling fails to give reasonable comfort, and where practical, there should be systems of work to ensure the amount of time individual workers are exposed to uncomfortable temperatures is limited. 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also provides detailed guidance on temperature at work, including outdoor work, on its website at: www.hse.gov.uk/temperature.

The TUC says UK laws need to be strengthened to stop people being put at risk from excessive workplace temperatures. It has long called for a maximum indoor workplace temperature of 30^oC, and 27^oC where the work is of a heavy nature.  In July, the GMB general union repeated its call for a legal maximum working temperature of 25°C. It also called on employers to make workplace adjustments including flexible working and travel arrangements, extra breaks, access to water, cooling systems or air conditioning, flexible dress codes and the provision of protective clothing and sun cream.

The Heat Strike campaign, a coalition of trade unions and climate campaigners, is also calling for a heatwave furlough scheme. This is a demand in countries including Germany, where the IG BAU construction union is demanding year-round climate short-time work benefits. With temperatures frequently exceeding 30^oC, it is calling for benefits currently available from December to March to be extended to cover hot weather.

Extreme weather

And while recent campaigning around the health and safety impacts of climate change has focused on the dangers of working in extreme heat, Guterres made clear that the many other devastating symptoms of the climate crisis include ever-more fierce hurricanes, floods and wildfires. Earlier this year, the Unite general union called for health and safety laws to be strengthened in view of the increased incidence of extreme weather events more generally. This followed sentencing of the employers of a young electrical engineer and Unite member, Matthew Campbell, who was killed by a falling tree uprooted by strong winds during Storm Ali in September 2018.

Marking International Workers Memorial Day in April, ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle warned: “The climate crisis is no longer a distant threat; it’s a present danger to workers around the globe”. He called for climate risk assessments and emergency preparedness to be integrated into occupational health and safety standards.

Andrea Oates is a freelance writer who writes on current affairs from a trade union perspective and specialises in health and safety at work and work-based learning and training.