Climate change creates a 'cocktail' of serious health hazards
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jun 2024
The health consequences of climate change can include cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, kidney dysfunction and mental health conditions. Moreover, a ‘staggering’ number of workers, amounting to more than 70% of the global workforce, are likely to be exposed to these climate-change-related health hazards.
The 132-page report Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate - A Global report published in April 2024 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) says that existing occupational safety and health protections are struggling to keep up with the resulting risks.
The report said that climate change is already having a serious impact on the safety and health of workers in all regions of the world. The ILO estimates that more than 2.4bn workers (out of a global workforce of 3.4bn) are likely to be exposed to excessive heat at some point during their work, according to the most recent figures available (2020). When calculated as a share of the global workforce, the proportion has increased from 65.5% to 70.9% since 2000.
In addition, the report estimates that 18,970 lives and 2.09m disability-adjusted life years are lost annually due to the 22.87m occupational injuries, which are attributable to excessive heat. Another 26.2m people worldwide are living with chronic kidney disease linked to workplace heat stress (2020 figures).
The report said the impact of climate change on workers, however, goes well beyond exposure to excessive heat, which result in a range of dangerous health conditions. The numerous health conditions in workers have been linked to climate change and the impacts of these include:
- 1.6bn workers exposed to UV radiation, with more than 18,960 work-related deaths annually from nonmelanoma skin cancer.
- 1.6bn likely to be exposed to workplace air pollution, resulting in up to 860,000 work-related deaths among outdoor workers annually.
- Over 870m workers in agriculture, likely to be exposed to pesticides, with more than 300,000 deaths attributed to pesticide poisoning annually.
- 15,000 work-related deaths every year due to exposure to parasitic and vector-borne diseases. M