According to the International Labour Organisation(ILO)’s report titled “Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate”, annually 22.85 million occupational injuries, 18,970 deaths and 2.09 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are reported due to excessive heat.
Key findings:
i.The report stated that large numbers of workers in hot rural regions of Americas, Africa, the Middle East and India, are suffering from irreversible kidney failure.
- Epidemics of chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) are affecting large numbers of workers conducting heavy manual labour in hot temperatures.
- In 2020, an estimated 26.2 million people were living with chronic kidney disease due to exposure to excessive heat at workplace.
ii.The report estimates that over 70% of all workers (~2.41 billion workers) are exposed to excessive heat. The exposure to excessive heat has increased by 34.7% from 2000 to 2020.
Impact of climate change on workers health globally:
The report highlighted various health conditions in workers that have been linked to climate change such as: cancer, cardio-vascular disease, respiratory illness, kidney dysfunction, mental health conditions, among others.
i.Annually around 1.6 billion workers are exposed to solar Ultraviolet(UV) radiation, with more than 18,960 work-related deaths annually from non-melanoma skin cancer.
ii.Over 1.6 billion outdoor workers are continuously exposed to outdoor air pollution.
iii.Annually, more than 3 lakh worked die due to pesticide poisoning and around 15,170 workers die due to exposure to parasitic and vector-borne disease.
Key Points:
i.The report cautioned that climate change can induce negative impact on employment such as: job losses, damage to business assets, decreased labour productivity and forced migration.
ii.At present, around 1.2 billion jobs rely directly on the effective management and sustainability of a healthy environment, in particular jobs in farming, fishing and forestry
iii.The report suggested that nations need to frame and adopt climate-change- specific Occupational Safety and Health(OSH) policies and integrate them with public health campaign.
About International Labour Organisation (ILO):
Director-General- Gilbert Houngbo
Headquarter- Geneva, Switzerland
Member nations- 187
Established- 1919
