UN Warns Excessive Heat Is Harming Worker Health, Productivity

As global temperatures continue to rise, the risks to workers’ productivity and health also are worsening, a United Nations study released Friday found.

For every degree above 20C (68F), worker productivity drops between 2% and 3%, according to analysis from the World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization. More than a third of people who frequently work in hot temperatures experience physiological heat strain, which is associated with conditions including impaired kidney function, dehydration and neurological dysfunction.

Around the world, more than 2.4 billion workers are exposed to workplace heat stress, according to the International Labor Organization ...