What now? Scaling up efforts on climate change and worker safety and health

Climate change is transforming work globally. Its effects on workers extend beyond direct environmental impacts, often worsening existing occupational hazards and impacting broader societal issues.

Until relatively recently, the impact of climate change on workers had been somewhat overlooked in research circles. But interest has grown significantly in the last 15 years. Only last year, the International Labour Organization published a comprehensive review of the risks climate change poses to workers, referencing hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature. Reflecting this ongoing interest, this blog post accompanies the release of two new reports by three organisations working at the forefront of this issue. 

RAND Europe, a not-for-profit policy research organisation, conducted a scoping review for the new Global Safety Evidence Centre. The review focused on high-risk and climate-vulnerable sectors, examining a large volume of literature. Using AI and expert analysis, the team identified risks, evidence gaps, and ways in which the Centre can make an impact in this space.

The IOSH, the chartered body and largest membership organisation for health and safety professionals, has published a white paper on the relationship between climate change and safe and healthy work. The paper highlights policy gaps, outlines safety and health principles that can be applied in the context of climate-related risks, and showcases examples of good practice that are emerging globally.

The two publications explore the impact of climate change on occupational safety and health (OSH) from different perspectives, yet their findings are complementary.

The major risks of climate change to workers are well understood. As evidence in the Global Safety Evidence Centre report shows, extreme weather disrupts workplaces and infrastructure, endangering workers’ physical safety. Rising temperatures pose considerable health risks and force changes in work patterns. Outdoor workers are especially vulnerable, facing greater exposure to these and additional risks, such as air pollution and diseases spread by insects and animals.

Stronger evidence is needed, however, on which practices and interventions most effectively mitigate these risks. Case studies show how – encouragingly – localised responses are emerging. The IOSH white paper highlights changes to working patterns among sugar cane workers in Mesoamerica and fatigue management checks among oil and gas workers in Oman. Additionally, as reported by RAND Europe, some regions have long-established working practices to cope with heat.

Yet evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions is still patchy, making it difficult to implement them at scale. This is due in part to the uneven distribution of robust monitoring and evaluation systems. Low- and middle-income countries, for example, are likely to face the greatest impacts but produce far less data and research than Europe and North America.

To address the global challenge of climate change, effective practices must be strengthened by evidence and adapted to different contexts. This requires up-to-date local data, as well as investment in building research capabilities among OSH professionals worldwide.

 

Given the scale, uncertainty, and diversity of climate change effects, the use of established and widely applicable principles of good OSH can help guide responses across contexts and different levels of safety maturity. From artisanal farmers to megaproject construction workers, good practices can be guided by common principles, such as commitment, accountability and collaboration. As the IOSH white paper suggests, “the principles of good OSH are not altered by climate change – if anything, they are only made more important by it.”

Unpredictability requires that organisations are flexible and ready to adapt to emerging hazards, especially given that climate events can arrive with little warning. Regardless of location, all organisations should prepare for sudden events and changing conditions.

 

Climate change presents serious challenges to safety and health, but the resilience of workers and businesses can help address them. All actors across the OSH community have a role to play:

• Strong policy responses are crucial to drive action and set clear standards at the business level.
• Further research is essential for developing not only evidence, but usable evidence-based guidance.
• Building monitoring and evaluation capability globally should be a priority. OSH professionals will need the ability to collect and analyse local data and adapt general guidance to specific contexts.
• Collaboration via international networks, such as the Global Safety Evidence Centre, can link together researchers, professional bodies, and businesses to facilitate mutual learning.

These two reports highlight the growing interest in the relationship between climate change and work. Crucially, they highlight the urgent effort still required to transform pockets of good practice into robust interventions that can support workers who need it the most.