On 23 September 2021 we launched the final report on our project investigating the impact of high heat and climate change on members or the United Workers Union (UWU). The launch was part of the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ (ACTU) Climate Safety at Work Summit, and we thank the UWU and ACTU for the platform to report on this project.
The report and executive summary, co-authored by Elizabeth Humphrys and Freya Newman, are available from the UWU website.
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The following news item and summary of key findings first appeared on the UTS website.
Regulations for addressing the impacts of workplace heat across the economy are inadequate, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated heat problems for many workers, says a new report by the Climate Justice Research Centre at UTS.
The report, High Heat and Climate Change at Work, details a range of workplace heat scenarios facing workers in industries including homecare, utilities, cleaning, education, manufacturing, logistics and warehousing. It is being launched today at the Australian Council of Trade Unions Climate Safety at Work Summit.
The research project used interviews and a national survey of workers to investigate how members of the United Workers Union (UWU) experience and manage high heat conditions in the workplace, as well as their views on the relationship between climate change and workplace heat.
“Millions of Australian workers are contending with workplace heat to a degree that is unhealthy and unsafe,” says report co-author Dr Elizabeth Humphrys.
This already difficult situation is becoming tougher as heatwaves increase in intensity, duration and frequency due to climate change.
Dr Elizabeth Humphrys
“Many workers we spoke with work in environments where they are exposed to the weather, or do not have access to proper ventilation or cooling controls. We know that many workers are also having to work at rates of production which are frankly incompatible with some of the most basic heat management strategies which humans typically use to cool themselves, such as slowing down, having rests and taking breaks to rehydrate.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated heat problems for many workers. The impacts of PPE, increased workloads, and needing jobs like cleaning done more often and in the hottest part of the day, are all impacting workers’ health. Employers are often not allowing extra breaks to allow workers to recover, or hiring more workers to manage workloads, even though the law requires them to create a safe workplace.”
Dr Humphrys says climate change and high heat are a growing problem for industry, with the International Labour Organisation forecasting the impact on labour productivity to worsen significantly in the next few decades.
“This already difficult situation is becoming tougher as heatwaves increase in intensity, duration and frequency due to climate change.”
The national survey found that:
- On hot days, more than half the workers (58.1%) were affected by workplace heat ‘quite a bit’ or ‘very much’. Less than 10% of workers were only affected ‘slightly’ or ‘not at all’
- Many workers lack access to adequate cooling controls at work
- Over a 12-month period, 20.2% of workers were unable to work at some point due to high heat
- When exposed to heat at work, many workers experience symptoms of heat stress, including: fatigue (77.6%); headache (59.9%); poor concentration (50.1%); and nausea and dizziness (36.8%)
- Most workers do not have, or are not aware if there is, a heat management plan in their workplace. Where policies do exist, enforcing those policies is often difficult
- Workers whose jobs are externally ‘paced’, for example by an inflexible roster or by the speed of machines, find it difficult to take steps to protect themselves in high heat
- As a result of COVID-19 pandemic, over one-third of workers (37.5%) experienced increased difficulty with heat management due to changed conditions and PPE
- There were insufficient procedures in place to deal with the smoke and ash emergency during the 2019-2020 bushfires, and insufficient OHS action taken by employers once the crisis was unfolding
- More than half (56.2%) of surveyed workers, and a majority in every state and territory, thought climate change was impacting people’s working conditions.
The Climate Justice Research Centre recommends that:
- Commonwealth and state governments urgently address increasing workplace heat, with the involvement of workers and their representatives
- Current OHS and industrial frameworks, which are inadequate to the task of dealing with the impacts of climate change and high heat, are improved
- Further research on the health and safety impacts of workplace heat, and other forms of extreme weather, is carried out on a national basis.
The report and an executive summary are available from the United Workers Union.
The research project was jointly funded by UTS and the UWU, and conducted independently by UTS researchers in the Climate Justice Research Centre.
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