Photo credit: The Globe and Mail
The World Health Organization has said climate change-driven heat is a “public health crisis” for workers around the globe.
Toronto Today reports that the WHO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a joint report on Friday saying outdoor workers in construction, farming and other physically demanding jobs are at especially high risk of heat stroke, dehydration, cardiovascular damage and kidney dysfunction.
Although radiation from the sun is an added risk factor on top of air temperature, the report noted that people working indoors in hot, humid conditions are also vulnerable.
WHO’s director of environment, climate change and health, Rudiger Krech said, “The workers keeping our societies running are paying the highest price.
“These impacts are especially severe in vulnerable communities with limited access to cooling, health care, and productive labour policies.”
Glen Kenny, University of Ottawa research chair in environmental physiology, contributed to the international report and said, “In Canada, unfortunately, we have these weather extremes. We go from cold to hot. And so our bodies essentially lose that (heat) adaptation during the winter period.”
The report said the risk of heat exhaustion increases when the core body temperature rises beyond 38 C.
It urged governments and employers to develop heat-health plans, including ways for workers to take breaks and get out of the sun or away from hot machinery and rehydrate regularly.
