"Climate change adds workplace costs and hazards"

As Texas baked in this summer’s record temperatures, local UPS driver Chris Begley started feeling unwell before collapsing at a customer’s premises. The 57-year-old’s death in hospital was announced in late August — just as his trade union was ratifying a deal with UPS on improved heat protections.

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In a statement to local media, UPS said it was cooperating with the authorities as they investigated the cause of death. “We train our people to recognize the symptoms of heat stress, and we respond immediately to any request for help,” it said.

As global warming leads to more frequent spells of extreme heat around the world, workers are among the most exposed to serious health risks because their livelihoods often depend on them carrying on regardless.

At the same time, studies show that productivity starts to be impaired at temperatures above 24-26 C and, for some tasks, slashed by half from around 33-34 C — levels repeatedly exceeded in a year which included the hottest July on record.

“Unlike some occupational health and safety risks you see a direct impact [from heat] on the health of workers and a direct impact on productivity,” said Halshka Graczyk, a specialist on the issue at the International Labour Organization (ILO).

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Even on the optimistic assumption that the world hits its Paris Agreement goal of capping warming at 1.5 C, productivity losses will amount to 2.2% of global work hours or $2.4 trillion in output by 2030, the ILO estimates.

But finding the point at which employer costs can be minimized without compromising worker welfare is all the harder given the lack of clear data, uneven regulation, and the unequal way that workers around the world will experience heat stress.

Not surprisingly, white-collar workers in air-conditioned offices will be less affected: the big impact will remain initially on outdoor workers in sectors from construction to agriculture and in particular those in the Global South.

Among the most exposed will be the world’s 170 million migrant workers ...

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