Extreme heat exacerbated by human-caused climate change kills thousands of workers around the world each year and injures tens of millions of others, according to new estimates from the United Nation’s labor organization.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that currently over 70% of the world’s workforce is exposed to excessive heat on at least one occasion every year and warned that the figure will rise as global temperatures increase.
The ILO said this will result in increased mortality and reduced productivity among workers unless governments create additional workplace safety rights and protections — particularly for outdoor workers.
The ILO estimated that workers suffer 22.85 million occupational injuries and 18,970 work-related deaths from excessive heat every year.
It said hundreds of thousands more die annually from pesticide poisoning, air pollution, solar UV radiation and parasitic and vector-borne diseases.
Particularly at risk of being injured or dying from extreme heat and other outdoor occupational hazards are agricultural, construction, natural resource management and refuse collection workers.
Some subsets of these workers face an even higher risk, such as migrant workers in informal construction and agricultural settings or those in emergency services during extreme weather events like wildfires.
Some U.S. States have created heat protections for workers, while others have banned local attempts to establish them.
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