More than 70% of workers around the world face climate change-related health risks, with more than 2.4 billion people likely to be exposed to excessive heat on the job, according to a report released Monday by the United Nations.
Climate change is already having a severe impact on the safety and health of workers around the world as excessive heat, extreme weather, solar UV radiation and air pollution have resulted in an alarming increase in some diseases, according to the findings from the International Labour Organization, a U.N. agency.
More than 860,000 outdoor workers a year die from exposure to air pollution, and nearly 19,000 people die each year from non-melanoma skin cancer from exposure to solar UV radiation.
"Occupational safety and health considerations must be become part of our climate change responses, both policies and actions," Manal Azzi, a team lead of occupational safety and health at the ILO, stated.
With the increasing average temperatures globally, heat illness is becoming a significant safety and health issue for workers worldwide, including in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that environmental heat exposure led to the deaths of 36 workers in 2021 and 56 in 2020.
In a recent incident, a 26-year-old man tragically experienced fatal heat-related injuries while working in an open sugar cane field in Belle Glade, Florida. The heat index reached 97 degrees, and the Department of Labor cited a contractor for failing to protect the worker, as stated last week by the DOL.
"This young man lost his life on his first day at work because his employer neglected their responsibility to safeguard employees from heat exposure, a well-known and increasingly hazardous situation," commented Condell Eastmond, OSHA's area director in Fort Lauderdale, regarding the September fatality.
From 1992 to 2021, environmental heat exposure resulted in the deaths of 999 U.S. workers, averaging 33 fatalities per year, according to the Department of Labor. However, the agency mentioned that statistics on occupational heat-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths are likely significantly underestimated.
