Which warns of risks of exceptional heat in the workplace

Workers around the world need better protection against extreme heat, as climate change causes more frequent heat waves -this is the conclusion of a new report by the World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization.

The report states that millions of workers are exposed to thermal stress, which affects their health and their presentation. He calls on governments, employers and workers to cooperate with the development of adaptation strategies.

Although the WHO has warned many times from the health risks of extreme heat, it is his first report of 1969, specifically about the heat stress in the workplace.

The WHO is the Director of the Environment, the Climate and the Health Rudiger Krech says his discoveries should be awakened.

“It’s not just a discomfort. It’s a real health risk,” he told the BBC. “If you work on heat and your body temperature increases by a longer period of over 38 ° C, then you are at risk of severe stress associated with heat and stroke, renal failure, dehydration.”

Adaptation is required as heat waves are no longer rare events. The World Meteorological Organization says that the last decade has seen the hottest temperatures, with 2024 being the first year so far.

In parts of Europe, temperatures of 40C (104F) and others are no longer uncommon. In Africa or the Middle East, they can rise to 50C. The average surface temperatures in the Mediterranean in July were the warmest in a record in 26.68C, according to MercatorS This week Met Service in the UK said This summer was about to be one of the warmest of the beginning of the records in 1884.

Thermal waves not only damage health, but the WHO warns, they also affect production. The new report shows that for each temperature increase of one degree above 20 ° C, productivity drops by 2%.

Meanwhile, accidents are increasing. During Europe of 2023, the National Accident Insurance Fund in Switzerland (SUVA) estimated that when temperatures increased above 30 ° C, workplace accidents increased by 7%. The reasons, said Suva, include problems with concentration as workers’ bodies struggled to adapt to exceptional heat and lack of sleep, again caused by heat.

With construction and agricultural workers, especially at risk, some European countries are already watching how they can adapt to make work more forthcoming during heat waves. Last month, the Italian government signed an emergency decree after agreeing to a protocol with trade unions and bosses to stop people from working during the first hours of the day.

In the Swiss cantons Geneva and Ticino, construction was stopped during the heat wave in 2023, a move greeted by the most large union in Switzerland, Unia.

“Often, they are already behind the schedule, so they are really under pressure to continue working,” Unia Nico Lutz told Swiss TV.

“That is why we need construction companies to take responsibility and to say that it is irresponsible above a certain temperature, it is too hot to work and we all accept that the work just takes a little longer.”

The WHO report, although specific in the workplace, also warns that the elderly, chronically patients and young people are at particular risk during heat waves. This means that schools, as well as jobs, must adapt.

In Germany, schools can declare “Hitzefrei” when temperatures rise above a certain level. In the 70s, 80s or 90s, it often meant that when the thermometer climbed over 30C, the school bell rings twice and anyone can go home.

But that was when such temperatures were rare. Now 30C is increasingly found and schools are reluctant to interrupt lessons as often. Who is Rudiger Krech understands why. “During Covid we have seen that stopping school … Our school children are still suffering from it. We only think the easy solution is to stop learning, this is often the most expensive for children.”

When the schools returned to Switzerland last week, temperatures across the country were over 30 ° C. The advice to teachers: Take your hours to the pool. But like Dagmar Rössler, head of the Swiss Teachers Association, told the Swiss media: “We can’t do all our classes in the pool – we have things to teach.”

D -Ja Rösler, perhaps providing the call for the UHO adapt, called on school buildings, many of which are due to renovation to include new ventilation systems and even air conditioning.

“I just want people to remember that it is that our children can learn in an environment that is comfortable for them,” she said. “And that our teachers can work in conditions that are tolerable.”

The WHO/WMO report is said to have adapted after consultation with all, from governments, to employers and workers, to local councils and health and educational bodies. The Rüdiger Krech already has one suggestion that it may be liked not only by school students in the UK, but also to schools involved in money with a little money to renovate.

“The school uniforms you have in the UK, are they adapted to the heat waves? These are questions that we want people to consider.”

But there is no avoidance of the fact that adapting jobs, schools or even hospitals to deal with increased extreme heat will require investment. Many governments, especially in Europe, redirect their defense costs, while the adaptation of climate change has abandoned the list of priorities.

G -H Crach warns that this can be short. “Just to think, I have no money for all these changes. Well, think twice. Because if you have to stop producing if you have your workers with severe health consequences due to the expanded heat waves, then think about the losses of the productivity you have. To think that I just don’t have the money, so it will be left.