Climate CHIP Publications

Surveillance of work environment and heat stress assessment using meteorological data

Authors: 
Gao C, Kuklane K, Ostergren P-O, Kjellstrom T
Year: 
2019

Health surveillance and workplace surveillance are two related but different aspects of occupational health services. The assessment of heat stress using heat indices and thermal models in connection with meteorological data is an important part of surveillance of workplace heat. The assessment of heat exposure provides the basis for occupational health services. Workers should have health surveillance if the high heat stress cannot be reduced.

Climate projections of multi-variate heat stress index: the role of downscaling and bias correction

Authors: 
Casanueva A, Kotlarski S, Herrera S, Foscher AM, Kjellstrom T, Schwierz C
Year: 
2019

Along with the higher demand for bias-corrected data for climate impact studies, the number of available data sets has largely increased in recent years. For instance, the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) constitutes a framework for consistently projecting the impacts of climate change across affected sectors and spatial scales. These data are very attractive for any impact application since they offer worldwide bias-corrected data based on global climate models (GCMs).

Working on a warming planet: The impact of heat stress on labour productivity and decent work

Authors: 
Kjellstrom T, Maitre N, Saget C, Otto M, Karimova T
Year: 
2019

The phenomenon of heat stress refers to heat received in excess of that which the body can tolerate without physiological impairment. It is one of the major consequences of global warming. By 2030, the equivalent of more than 2 per cent of total working hours worldwide is projected to be lost every year, either because it is too hot to work or because workers have to work at a slower pace. This report shows the impact of heat stress on productivity and decent work for virtually all countries in the world.

Heat stress impacts on cardiac mortality in Nepali migrant workers in Qatar

Authors: 
Pradhan B, Kjellstrom T, Atar D, Sharma P, Kayastha B, Bhandari G, Pradhan P
Year: 
2019

Background: Qatar is a major destination country for Nepali migrant workers (NMWs; main age range 25–35 years) in the construction trade. These 120,000+ NMWs are exposed to various occupational hazards, including excessive heat, and 3–4 workers die each week. Our study aimed to show whether heat exposure caused deaths. Methods: The worker population and mortality data of NMWs were retrieved from government institutions in Nepal.

European heat stress to reach critical levels under climate change conditions

Authors: 
Casanueva A, Kotlarski S, Fischer A, Schwierz C, Lemke B, Kjellstrom T, Liniger MA
Year: 
2018

Heatwaves are among the most dangerous natural hazards, being associated with considerable effects on the population. Under hot conditions the human body is able to regulate its core temperature via sweat evaporation, but this ability is reduced when the air humidity is very high. These conditions invoke heat stress which, in turn, may cause dehydration, hyperthermia and heat stroke. Heat stress is a major problem for vulnerable groups of the population and also constitutes an important threat for European workers with potential major impacts on workers' health and productivity.

Estimated work ability in warm outdoor environments depends on the chose heat stress assessment metric

Authors: 
Peter Bröde, Dusan Fiala, Bruno Lemke, Tord Kjellstrom
Year: 
2018

With a view to occupational effects of climate change, we performed a simulation study on the influence of different heat stress assessment metrics on estimated workability (WA) of labour in warm outdoor environments. Whole-day shifts with varying workloads were simulated using as input meteorological records for the hottest month from four cities with prevailing hot (Dallas, New Delhi) or warm-humid conditions (Managua, Osaka), respectively.

Invited editorial: climate change impacts on working people: how to develop prevention policies

Authors: 
Nilsson M, Kjellstrom T.
Year: 
2018

The evidence on negative consequences from climate change on human health and well-being is growing (1–5). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described climate change as a threat to the climate system that sets the basis for life and human health conditions (6). The changing climate is expected to affect basic requirements needed to support and sustain human health such as good food, clean water, and unpolluted air, with negative effects that are expected to be unequally distributed.

Estimating population heat exposure and impacts on working people in conjunction with climate change

Authors: 
Tord Kjellstrom, Chris Freyberg, Bruno Lemke, Matthias Otto, David Briggs
Year: 
2018

Increased environmental heat levels as a result of climate change present a major challenge to the health, wellbeing and sustainability of human communities in already hot parts of this planet. This challenge has many facets from direct clinical health effects of daily heat exposure to indirect effects related to poor air quality, poor access to safe drinking water, poor access to nutritious and safe food and inadequate protection from disease vectors and environmental toxic chemicals. The increasing environmental heat is a threat to environmental sustainability.