More than 70% of workers around the world face climate change-related health risks, with more than 2.4 billion people likely to be exposed to excessive heat on the job, according to a report released Monday by the United Nations.
'Occupational safety and health considerations must be become part of our climate change responses, both policies and actions,' Manal Azzi, a team lead of occupational safety and health at the ILO, stated. As average temperatures rise, heat illness is a growing safety and health concern for workers throughout the world, including in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates environmental heat exposure claimed the lives of 36 workers in 2021 and 56 in 2020.