In April 2024, the International Labour Organization released a report exploring the impact of climate change on workers globally. The report emphasises how workers are often the most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crises and shows, amid the failure of occupational safety and health protections to “keep up with the evolving risks”, increasing worker mortality and morbidity.

The report highlights some groups of workers are particularly vulnerable, such as migrant workers and workers in the informal economy.

The report explores evidence related to the impact of several climate impacts on occupational health and safety:

• Excessive heat, particularly for workers in agriculture, natural resource management, construction, refuse collection, emergency repair work, transport, tourism, and sports.
• Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, particularly for outdoor workers such as in agriculture, construction, lifeguards, power utility, gardening, postal workers, and dock workers.
• Extreme weather events, particularly for emergency workers including medical personnel and firefighters, construction workers involved in the clean-up, and agricultural and fishing workers.
• Workplace air pollution, particularly for outdoor workers, transport workers and firefighters.
• Vector-borne diseases, particularly for agricultural workers, foresters, landscapers, groundskeepers, gardeners, painters, construction workers, and firefighters, among others.
• Agrochemicals, particularly for agricultural workers, plantation workers, chemical industries, forestry, pesticide sales, green space and vector control.

Key findings include:

• Billions of workers are vulnerable to hazards exacerbated by the climate crises, and workers in some industries, such as agriculture, are particularly at risk.
• Climate change is linked to several health conditions in workers, backed by strong evidence. Heat exposure has been linked to 18,970 deaths each year, and thousands also die from pesticide poisoning, workplace air pollution, UV radiation, and parasitic and vector born diseases.
• Countries have been implementing new laws to address heat exposure – for other climate change impacts, protections are generally integrated into existing occupational health & safety or environmental regulations. Legislation varies considerably between countries. As the hazards change and intensify, legislation must also adapt and extra protections will be required for particularly vulnerable workers.
• Social dialogue between governments and social partners is required to ensure policies are effective. Policies should be co-ordinated between different government departments.
• Workplaces can also contribute to climate mitigation strategies.
• There is limited evidence base in critical areas on the nexus between climate change and occupational health and safety is “limited in critical areas”, and so further research is needed.
• Shifts to green and sustainable technologies may create new health and safety challenges, such as the impact of toxic chemicals in solar panels on worker health.