Earth Today | Occupational safety and health, a key consideration to overcome heat stress

IMPLEMENTING OCCUPATIONAL safety and health (OSH) measures to prevent occupational injuries related to excessive heat can yield savings of more than USD361 billion each year, but they need to be robust.

This is according to information from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its report H eat at Work: Implications for Safety and Health.

“Prevention and control strategies for heat stress in the working environment need to be strengthened as a matter of urgency. Existing strategies to combat heat stress are proving inadequate, especially in the context of rising temperatures and changing weather patterns,” the report said.

“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,” it added.

The report has also championed the integration of OSH protections into heat action plans and public health campaigns as organisations work to address heat risks for workers.

“Workers should be at the heart of heat action plans, early warning systems, and other heat-related public health efforts. Excessive heat and heatwaves should be treated as OSH hazards. OSH considerations should be incorporated into broader strategies and action on climate change and just transition,” it said.

“In most countries, provisions referring to heat in existing OSH laws are often general and do not adequately address the intensifying climate change-related dangers many workers face daily. However, some countries are now revising their laws or developing new specific regulations to address heat,” it said.

These usually include temperature limits for workers and guidelines on measures workplaces can take to protect them. In line with the ILO List of Occupational Diseases, several countries also recognise heat-related illnesses as work-related diseases.

According to the report, there is, too, among other things, a place for social dialogue to form a part of the solution, with workers and employers’ organisations involved in both the design and implementation of climate-change mitigation and adaptation policies.

“Workers and employers are best placed to implement adaptation policies and take appropriate action at the workplace, such as ensuring compliance with health and safety standards, and finding practical solutions so that workers can cope with high temperatures and humidity, and continue to do their jobs,” the report said.

At the same time, as temperatures rise and continue to impair worker productivity, it is beneficial to take the time to reconsider indoor and outdoor working methods, working hours, dress codes, uniforms, and equipment, shifts and breaks, and other issues.

Social dialogue is also an important consideration, among other things.

“Stakeholders at all levels must prioritise social dialogue as a fundamental component of developing and implementing OSH policies and strategies on heat stress, with workers and their representatives trained and empowered to participate in these processes,” the 2024 report noted.

“A number of critical collective bargaining agreements have been adopted to address specific conditions for different sectors, detailing procedures and protocols to deal with excessive heat in the workplace,” it added.

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