La Isla Network joined the UN Global Compact Network UK’s latest webinar series to make the business case for protecting businesses and workers from extreme heat. LIN’s CEO Jason Glaser spoke alongside other occupational safety and health (OSH) experts, stating the verifiable business returns that come from investing in worker safety and health.
Exposure to extreme heat has always been a threat to the safety and health of workers, and the first heat safety protocols were devised in the preceding century, ensuring no worker died or was injured from extreme heat. But new data reveals that regions previously unaccustomed to extreme heat will face increased risks (i.e. the developed countries and moderate climates), while workers in already hot climates will confront more dangerous conditions.
Heatwaves are one source of danger that is increasingly threatening workers. About 231 million workers were exposed to heatwaves in 2020, marking a 66 percent increase from 2000. This data comes from the International Labour Organization (ILO), a labor agency of the United Nations.
Extreme heat events have increased in duration, frequency, and intensity. This is a likely indicator that human activity that releases greenhouse gases — like burning fossil fuels to power industry — is changing the climate, or long-term weather patterns.
Though efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emission are in progress, the world climate is already on track to change. So, industry experts are urging government and businesses to adapt their labor and industry policy to reflect the new reality.
Glaser said, “The sad truth is the current [heat safety] guidance is pretty bad. It doesn’t work, and we’ve shown that. We’re publishing on that. Now we have guidance that we think does [work], based on low, medium, high, and very high workload and WBGT. It will take academia 20 years to accept it, so hopefully we can convince our peers [in industry] to implement it based on data.”
Ruth Wilkinson, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at IOSH, said, “Climate adaptation will likely fall in the remit of occupational safety and health professionals, where we’ll need to use their skills to support organizations and to help bring those preventative and protective measures into those arrangements to support workers at that time.”
A critical component of the new reality is that overall temperatures, even on days outside of heatwaves, are on track to increase. Current models show hotter temperatures will be more commonplace than before, increasing workers’ and businesses’ vulnerability to heat stress.
In fact, the ILO found that nine out of ten workers globally were exposed to excessive heat outside of a heatwave and eight in ten occupational injuries from extreme heat happened outside of heatwaves.
The business case for climate adaptation becomes clear when examining the economic impact of these rising temperatures. Glaser provides a compelling illustration, noting that the interventions to protect workers from heat stress not only safeguard human health but also deliver tangible financial benefits. “After five years, you have a 60% return on investment,” Glaser said, demonstrating that protecting workers is not just a moral imperative but a strategic business decision.
Investing in climate adaptation proves to be a sound financial strategy that extends beyond immediate worker protection. As Glaser further articulated, companies implementing heat stress interventions can realize multiple business advantages:
“You have lower staff turnover, reducing absenteeism. You’re not paying into worker’s compensation. You’re not paying into Social Security. Businesses have gotten much better finance terms from development banks.”
Moreover, some financial institutions are now incentivizing these practices, with Glaser noting that “even Rabobank is giving loans now that are favorable in the agricultural sector to organizations that have better practices.” These benefits transform climate adaptation from a cost center to a potential profit driver, showing that protecting workers can simultaneously protect a company’s bottom line.
La Isla Network is a health research and advisory organization dedicated to ending heat-related injury, illness and death among workers worldwide. We develop data-driven worker protection interventions and conduct management of change, improving the resiliency of workforces and businesses to heat exposure. LIN drives lasting change by working with governments and multilateral institutions to inform and create policy. For more information please use our contact form.
