More than 70% of workers worldwide face health risks related to climate change, and more than 2.4 billion people are likely to be exposed to excessive heat at work, according to a study. report released Monday by the United Nations.
Climate change is already having a serious impact on the safety and health of workers around the world, as excessive heat, extreme weather, solar ultraviolet radiation and air pollution have led to an alarming increase in some diseases. , according to the conclusions of the International Labor Organization. , a UN agency.
An estimated 18,970 lives are lost each year due to occupational injuries attributable to excessive heat, and more than 26.2 million people live with chronic kidney disease related to heat stress in the workplace, the report states.
More than 860,000 outdoor workers die each year from exposure to air pollution, and nearly 19,000 people die each year from non-melanoma skin cancer from exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation.
“Occupational safety and health considerations must be part of our responses to climate change, both in policy and action,” said Manal Azzi, ILO Occupational Safety and Health Team Leader. fixed.
As average temperatures rise, heat illness is a growing safety and health problem for workers around the world, including the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that environmental heat exposure claimed the lives of 36 workers in 2021 and 56 in 2020.
More recently, a 26-year-old man suffered Fatal heat-related injuries while working in an open sugar cane field in Belle Glade, Florida, when the heat index reached 97 degrees, the DOL reported. saying last week, citing a contractor for failing to protect the worker.
“This young man’s life ended on his first day on the job because his employer failed in its duty to protect employees from exposure to heat, a known and increasingly dangerous hazard,” said Condell Eastmond, area director of OSHA in Fort Lauderdale, in the September report. death.
Environmental heat exposure killed 999 American workers between 1992 and 2021, for an average of 33 deaths per year, according to the Department of Labor. That said, statistics on heat-related occupational illnesses, injuries and deaths are likely “large underestimates,” the agency said.