The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Press Conferences , Edited News | ILO
ILO Press Conference: Impacts of climate on occupational safety and health - 22 April 2024
Global warming: excessive heat affects 70 percent of workers – ILO
More than 70 percent of the world's workforce faces potential health risks due to climate change, according to the latest report of the International Labour Organization (ILO), published on Monday. This staggering statistic underscores the pressing need to revamp existing occupational safety and health measures to adequately address the emerging threats posed by climate-related hazards.
“More than 70 per cent of our workers are exposed to excessive heat, at least excessive heat, at one point in their working lives. That's 2.4 billion workers globally,” out of a global workforce of 3,4 billion, said Manal Azzi, Senior Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO) at the report launch at the United Nations in Geneva.
Entitled “Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate,” the report states that climate change is already having a serious impact on the safety and health of workers in all regions of the world.
Workers, particularly those in the world's most impoverished regions, face heightened susceptibility to the perils of climate extremes like scorching heatwaves, prolonged droughts, raging wildfires, and devastating hurricanes, according to the ILO.
The share of global workers impacted by climate change hazards has increased by about 5 percentage points, to 70 percent, from 65 percent in the year 2000, the report said.
According to Ms. Azzi, “more than 22 million workers suffering from sicknesses and injuries related to exposure to excessive heat and these can range from injuries in transport, in traffic accidents due to bad night of sleep because it was excessively hot, to construction accidents, injuries, slips and falls related to the exposure to heat.”
The report notes that numerous health conditions in workers have been linked to climate change, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, kidney disfunction and mental health conditions. The impact includes the 1.6 billion workers exposed to UV radiation, with more than 18,960 work-related deaths annually from nonmelanoma skin cancer.
“Nearly 20,000 workers are dying yearly because of these injuries in the workplace related to rising temperatures and to exposure to excessive heat, indoor and outdoor heat, and losing millions - over 2 million disability-adjusted years - are lost because of injuries and deaths related to heat,” said ILO’s specialist on occupational safety and health.
With increasing temperatures and higher humidity, more pesticides are used in the agriculture sector. According to the report, there are more than 870 million workers in agriculture that are likely to be exposed to pesticides, with more than 300,000 deaths attributed to pesticide poisoning annually.
“15,000 people die due to parasitic and vector borne diseases exposed to in the workplace,” noted Ms. Azzi. “Obviously, these include a lot of diseases like dengue, rabies and various diseases that are increasing in regions that we never used to see them before. Malaria has even increased and we're seeing it's shown in countries that it never used to be before.”
The ILO expert highlighted that “the key issues we face are not where it's known to be very hot for the longest period where people are very acclimatized. But it's the new regions where heat was never such an issue and has become an issue that we're facing some of the acute injuries that that we're seeing today,” explained Ms. Azzi. “So we do have a list of detailed policy examples, collective bargaining examples, but also awareness raising and training programs that deal with all of the hazards I mentioned from vector borne disease control to air pollution to pesticides.”
Ms. Azzi stressed that all these factors are interlinked and that the right tools need to be in place to measure the impact and to be able to work on recommendations.
A major meeting is planned for 2025 by the ILO with the participation of government, employer and worker representatives to provide policy guidance on climate hazards.
-ends-
STORY: Impacts of climate change on workers - ILO
TRT: 2:34”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 22 April 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley
- Med shot: speakers at the podium during press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Manal Azzi, Senior Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO): “More than 70 per cent of our workers are exposed to excessive heat, at least excessive heat, at one point in their working lives. That's 2.4 billion workers globally.”
- Med shot: Photographer taking pictures
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Manal Azzi, Senior Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO): “More than 22 million workers suffering from sicknesses and injuries related to exposure to excessive heat and these can range from injuries in transport, in traffic accidents due to bad night of sleep, because it was excessively hot, to construction accidents, injuries, slips and falls related to the exposure to heat.”
- Wide shot: speakers at the podium with journalists in press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Manal Azzi, Senior Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO): “Nearly 20,000 workers are dying yearly because of these injuries in the workplace related to rising temperatures and to exposure to excessive heat, indoor and outdoor heat, and losing millions - over 2 million disability-adjusted years - are lost because of injuries and deaths related to heat.”
- Med shot: Zoom operators behind window in control room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Manal Azzi, Senior Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO): “15,000 people die due to parasitic and vector borne diseases exposed to in the workplace. Obviously, these include a lot of diseases like dengue, rabies and various diseases that are increasing in regions that we never used to see them before. Malaria has even increased and we're seeing it's shown in countries that it never used to be before.”
- Med shot: speakers at the podium with journalists in press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Manal Azzi, Senior Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO): “The key issues we face are not where it's known to be very hot for the longest period where people are very acclimatized. But it's the new regions where heat was never such an issue and has become an issue that we're facing some of the acute injuries that that we're seeing today. So we do have a list of detailed policy examples, collective bargaining examples, but also awareness raising and training programs that deal with all of the hazards I mentioned from vector borne disease control to air pollution to pesticides.”
- Close up: journalist listening
- Med shot, panelists at the podium
- Med shot, journalists in press room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , OHCHR , UNDP , WFP , WHO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Ukraine: Russian attacks on energy terrorize population as winter starts; could trigger major ‘crisis within crisis’
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine expressed concern on Friday about “continuous attacks” on energy production sites and distribution facilities.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA
The humanitarian situation In Ukraine: winter response, the energy crisis and next steps
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , OCHA , OHCHR , UNCTAD , UNHCR , UNOG , WHO , WMO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the World Meteorological Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNEP
UNEP Press conference: Minamata Convention on Mercury COP6