According to a United Nations study, more than 240 million people worldwide are exposed to extreme heat at work due to climate change. More than 70 percent of them workers are suffering from serious health risks. On the other hand, 18 thousand 970 people die all over the world in occupational accidents due to extreme heat every year.
This information was revealed in a research report of the United Nations Labor Organization – International Labor Organization (ILO) published on Monday.
The ILO report says that excessive heat, extreme weather, ultraviolet radiation and air pollution have led to an alarming increase in several diseases, which are already having a serious impact on the safety and health of workers worldwide.
The report also states that every year, 300,000 people die from pesticide poisoning, 860,000 from workplace air pollution, 18,960 from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, and another 15,170 from parasitic and animal-borne diseases. In this, the death rate of workers working in agriculture is seen higher.
ILO has also reported that many people in America, Africa, Middle East and India are suffering from kidney failure due to excessive heat.
“Occupational safety and health considerations must become part of our climate change responses,” said Manal Aji, head of the ILO’s occupational safety and health team.
As average temperatures rise, heat illness is becoming a greater safety and health risk for workers worldwide, especially in the United States.
According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, extreme heat caused 56 worker deaths in 2020 and 36 in 2021.
Also last week, a 26-year-old man died of heat illness while working in a sugarcane field in Belle Glade, Florida.
According to the US Department of Labor, from 1992 to 2021, 999 US workers died of heatstroke, or 33 deaths per year.
Source: CBS News
(Dhaka Times/23 April/MR)
