Oh, the heat!

AS THOUGH dripping with sweat almost as soon as you get out of the shower was not enough, in addition to the risk to physical health, also in jeopardy from the sweltering heat is people’s mental health.

A recent report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) has flagged the mental health effects of excessive heat as another reason to redouble efforts to address soaring temperatures due to climate change.

“For instance, construction workers report psychological distress caused by working in hot conditions, while firefighters report increased anxiety levels. A large-scale study of 41,000 workers from various occupations in Thailand reported an 84 per cent increase in the likelihood of experiencing heightened psychological distress when exposed to occupational heat stress, compared to non-heat stress conditions,” reads a section of the report, titled Heat at Work: Implications for Safety and Health – A Global Review of the Science, Policy and Practice.

“Excessive heat can also increase workers’ mental workload and reduce their focus and concentration. For example, car industry workers have shown cognitive performance impairments and increased levels of stress biomarkers when exposed to heat at work,” it added, citing the work of researchers from as far back as 2002.

The 2024 report further lists, among the heat challenges caused or which are otherwise exacerbated by excessive heat, increased irritation, confusion, decreased perception level, emotional stress and depression, as well as increased suicide rate – all with associated impacts on the job, such as increased interpersonal conflicts, limited decision-making ability, low worker morale, and workplace absenteeism.

This is on top of the range of accidents and injuries that are also associated with excessive heat. In fact, according to the report, the overall risk of occupational injuries increased by one per cent for every one-degree Celsius increase in temperature above reference values, and by 17.4 per cent during heatwaves.

This, the ILO report said, is based on a recent “systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological evidence based on a total of 22 studies representing almost 22 million occupational injuries”.

“When mental performance decreases, workplace accidents can increase due to worker irritation, anger, and other emotional states provoked by heat stress. Furthermore, moist hands, hot metal surfaces and equipment, as well as fogged safety glasses, all while rushing to complete tasks, can result in accidents such as slips, falls, collisions with objects and burns,” it revealed.

“… When personal protective equipment (PPE) is not designed for hot conditions, it further contributes to heat stress. As a result, workers become uncomfortably hot and may wish to remove their PPE or disregard safety protocols, increasing their exposure to accidents and injuries,” the report explained.

Continued temperature increases are fuelled by the human consumption of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil that cause greenhouse gas emissions that harm the planet, presenting a host of risks and threats. In addition to the overwhelming heat, there is also rising sea levels and coastal erosion, as well as extreme hurricane and other weather events, the likes of which was experienced with the passage of Hurricane Beryl recently.

These are, together with the risk to public health, associated with increases in vector-borne diseases such as dengue; and risks to food and freshwater security, given the vulnerability of the agriculture and fisheries sectors; and things like saltwater intrusion due to sea level rise.

Climate change calls for a sharp reduction and, ultimately, the phasing out of fossil fuel consumption together with scaled-up actions by, in particular, developed countries who are the world’s major emitters – in order to enable, through making available significant financial resources, alternative development pathways for developing countries.

This is a part of the approach championed by the stakeholders such as the Alliance of Small Island States – a coalition of 39 small island and low-lying coastal states – that have also been consistent in their call for a no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in global temperatures to prevent catastrophic climate change.

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