1.12 - Occupational Health and Safety Impacts of Climate Conditions

Abstract

Climate conditions in workplaces are occupational health hazards that need to be taken into account when assessing population vulnerability to climate conditions and climate changes. Very cold as well as very hot work environments can create thermal stress beyond what human physiology can cope with. All human populations have a normal core body temperature in the range 36–37 °C, and even a few degrees higher or lower body temperature, due to surrounding climate conditions, can lead to serious health effects. Intrabody heat production creates vulnerability among people doing heavy physical labor. Increasing air temperature or humidity creates new workplace risks from heat stress, particularly in already hot locations, as temperature or humidity increases. This chapter describes this occupational health problem in some detail and also refers to other climate-related health risks that may occur in particular occupation groups.