In these chaotic times that many characterise in terms of rollback, regression, and retreat, there is one measure that continues to surge ahead — global temperature. The year 2024 was the hottest ever since worldwide temperature recording began. Though climate occupied a major space in discussions at the UN General Assembly in New York City last month, significant progress did not emerge from the fractured international environment.
President Trump called climate change a “con job” when he addressed the assembly, making it clear that the US will not join in working toward a solution to the climate crisis while he is in the White House.
Meanwhile, the health impacts of extreme heat are rising at a furious pace. Cardiovascular and kidney failure are common byproducts of soaring heat with deadly consequences. Research by the World Economic Forum projects that heatwaves will be responsible for two million additional deaths in the next 25 years.
While we are all put at risk by extreme heat, those who are most vulnerable to its ravages, and with the least recourse to protect themselves, are workers who must subject themselves to dangerous temperatures just to earn a living. Indeed, the UN’s International Labour Organization posits that 70% of the global workforce is at risk from death or injury because of extreme heat. A new joint report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) calls for action to ameliorate the harm.
The prescription to prevent heat-related illness and death is not sophisticated, but it is effective: water, rest, and cooling. Yet, too many workers doing outdoor labour in the informal sector do not have access to those lifesaving measures or fear they will be sanctioned for using them.
Now, advocates and policymakers around the world are joining together to create heat action plans and laws designed to protect workers. Because conditions differ geographically and needs vary by sector, plans should be locally targeted and must involve workers in the planning process to be effective.
In earlier times, workers in informal sectors may have had the latitude to pace their work to avoid the hottest part of the day. The 24/7 demands ofcontemporary work have obliterated that latitude. The UK’s National Centre for Social Research now estimates that 60% of informal outdoor workers must work during peak midday hours.
Some heat action plans have had success in shifting work in particular sectors away from the hottest part of the day by adding a lengthy midday break. When the heat action plan in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh included carving out peak heat hours from construction schedules, those workers without a place to cool off during the midday found that their waking/working hours had been stretched to a 20-hour day, so cooling/resting facilities were added to worksites. This again highlights the importance of ensuring that occupational heat policies are worker-centred to be effective and to avoid unintended consequences penalising the very workers they are meant to help.
Thailand is to be commended for revising its national occupational heat standard in 2006 to use a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index to more accurately project dangerous heat. But there are questions about enforcement of the policy and its effectiveness, as many of the prescriptions are suggestions for employers, rather than requirements, so it may be time to update the standard.
In Bangkok, the rapid pace of development has created its own extreme heat challenges. Use of concrete, glass and other heat-absorbing building materials has helped created an “urban heat island” effect in the city, making it even hotter than surrounding areas. Though the city continues to make progress in creating neighbourhood parks, there is still a long way to go to reach the WHO’s recommendation of a minimum of 9 square metres of green space per person to aid in cooling and other health benefits.
Heatwaves in Thailand, and throughout Southeast Asia, can be particularly lethal, due to the region’s high humidity, as the body primarily cools itself through the evaporation of sweat, which is impeded by humidity. But as deadly, recent heatwaves in Europe, Japan and the US attest, the adverse effect of extreme heat is now felt far from the equator.
In the past 25 years, heat-related deaths have more than doubled in the US. The Biden administration had proposed landmark workplace protections that included a national heat standard which would trigger enforceable requirements for employers, including the provision of drinkable water, cooling rest areas and 15-minute breaks. Unfortunately, the current Trump administration has shown no interest in implementing this standard.
In the absence of a national heat standard, US states are moving forward to establish measures to protect workers. Seven states have passed outdoor workplace heat standards and more are being considered.
California has the oldest state heat standard, and it provides a case study on the effectiveness of such laws. Researchers recently compared county-level data concerning outdoor workplace heat deaths in California to neighboring states without heat standards. They demonstrated that the heat standard was associated with a 43% reduction in deaths.
Even as some states are moving forward with worker protections, Texas and Florida have banned their own cities from creating municipal heat standards. Sadly, support for worker health and safety in the US is breaking down along political party lines. The issue of workplace protections against extreme heat should not create a partisan divide, nor should it pit employer against worker. The new WHO/WMO report states that, “Protection of workers from extreme heat is not just a health imperative but an economic necessity.”
The report found that worker productivity drops by 2-3% for every degree above 20 degrees Celsius. This, coupled with the human and economic cost of heat-related illness, disability and death, should make action on extreme heat a priority for all of us.
We must engage workers, trade unions, employers, health experts and local authorities in developing plans that are applicable to their communities. Public education and awareness must be raised about the signs of heat distress. Common sense access to clean water, shade and rest must be ensured. And adoption of innovative technology that safeguards health while maintaining productivity should be prioritised.
Workers around the world should be protected from the effects of extreme heat — from the highway worker spreading asphalt in Texas to the motorcycle delivery driver navigating rush-hour traffic in Bangkok. While the frustrating one-step-forward/two-steps-back dance on climate change continues nationally and globally, we can and must do something to mitigate its devastating impact on those in our midst.