How Can U.S. Employers Keep Workers Safe From the Health Harms of Climate Change?

How Does Climate Change Affect Worker Health?

Climate change broadly threatens the health of workers in 3 ways.

First, changes in temperature, rainfall, and extreme weather patterns intensify existing workplace safety and health hazards. For example, nearly 70,000 U.S. workers were sickened by extreme heat between 1992 and 2016, and at least another 780 died. ¹³ As the climate changes, outdoor workers, in particular, will face rising numbers of unsafe working days due to heat. ¹⁴ Climate change is also contributing to more frequent and severe weather extremes that put motorists at risk, which is problematic given that vehicle accidents are already the leading cause of occupational deaths in the U.S. ¹⁵ In parts of the Southwest and desert Great Plains, intensifying drought is increasing the likelihood of dust storms, which obstruct visibility and contribute to multi-vehicle pileups. ¹⁶ In the Southeast, climate change has helped boost the number and intensity of flash floods since 1996. ¹⁷ Flash floods can damage roads and bridges and sweep vehicles off the road.

Second, climate change is creating new safety and health hazards, including facilitating the geographic expansion of infectious diseases. For example, rising temperatures are expected to expand the range of Zika virus, an illness carried by yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) and Asian tiger mosquitoes (Ae. albopictus). ¹⁸ Climate warming and drying associated with climate change could also facilitate the spread of Valley fever, a potentially debilitating fungal disease, into at least 5 new western states. ¹⁹

Third, both weather-related disasters and more gradual manifestations of climate change such as sea level rise are causing economic hardships. This is particularly true for low-wage workers who are paid hourly or by the piece, who lack paid leave, or who already struggle to pay for essentials such as food and medical care. ^20,21 For instance, just over half of Texas residents surveyed 12 to 15 months after Hurricane Harvey reported job or income losses due to the storm. That economic instability more than doubled the odds of experiencing food insecurity among Harvey survivors. ²²

Outdoor workers bear the brunt of climate-related health threats, particularly if they spend time in exposed environments such as rooftops or farm fields, or as responders in disaster zones. However, it is important to recognize that inadequate cooling or other structural deficiencies can likewise increase climate-related risks for indoor workers. Furthermore, disruptions to business operations or commuting routes because of extreme weather or sea level rise can potentially threaten any worker within an affected area.

Why Should Employers Care About Climate-Related Health Harms?

Employers in the U.S. have a moral and legal ²³ responsibility to protect their workforce from safety and health threats. Moreover, preventing occupational illnesses, injuries, and deaths can reduce financial losses related to issues such as absenteeism, reduced productivity, and disruptions to business continuity.

Poor workplace health and safety outcomes pose substantial expense to employers in the form of medical costs; replacement of worker wages; and a variety of indirect costs such as training replacement workers and legal fees. ^24,25 According to the 2019 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, the top 10 most disabling types of non-fatal workplace injuries alone cost U.S. businesses nearly $47 billion in 2016. ²⁶ There are, to our knowledge, no specific assessments of climate change-related health costs in occupational settings. However, recent research on the general U.S. population suggests that climate-sensitive events could likewise generate billions of dollars of medical and lost wage costs to employers each year. ²⁷

Furthermore, climate change can reduce the productivity of employees even if they are well enough to appear at work. Extreme heat, for instance, dampens productivity by affecting sleep, mood, cognitive functioning, and physical health. ²⁸ According to the 2019 Lancet Countdown, an annual global snapshot of how climate change is affecting human health, agricultural, manufacturing, and service sector workers in the U.S. lost nearly 1.1 billion work hours due to extreme heat between 2000 and 2018. ²⁹

Climate change can also reduce worker productivity through its effects on mental health. During and after major floods, hurricanes, or wildfires, job-related stresses (particularly for first responders) and personal and financial losses can increase the incidence or severity of symptoms related to substance abuse, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other serious conditions. ³⁰ Those new or worsening mental health problems can lead to missed or unproductive workdays, as Florida businesses owners reported in interviews after Hurricane Irma in 2017. ³¹

Fortunately, measures to minimize the health and safety threats exacerbated or created by climate change can protect workers and save employers money. For example, a voluntary Heat Stress Awareness Program in one Central Texas city reduced the odds of heat-related illnesses in municipal workers by 91% over 9 years. The severity of heat-related illnesses also declined among the workers, cutting the median cost for related workers’ compensation claims in half. ³²

What Should Employers Do?

Employers can protect their staff, reduce injury and illness costs, and maintain business continuity in the face of climate change by taking 3 key actions.

First, employers should look for opportunities to cut heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions in their own operations and urge their peers and all levels of government to do the same. Without addressing the root causes of climate change, increasingly stringent and expensive measures will be needed to keep workers healthy and safe. In the case of extreme heat, unchecked global greenhouse gas emissions could lead to the loss of an estimated 1.9 billion work hours per year in 2090. Yet, under a scenario of moderate emissions, lost work hours would be closer to 970 million per year. ³³

Second, employers should not wait for state and federal officials to set safeguards against climate-related conditions such as extreme heat. In the U.S., the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is slow to promulgate and update standards for new or worsening workplace hazards, even when workers are already being harmed. ³⁴ Employers may find that the most efficient and effective path to protecting health and safety is to proactively collaborate with union representatives and their own employees to develop climate-smart health and safety procedures.

Finally, employers should plan for increasingly frequent extreme weather and disasters in a way that incorporates future climate risks, rather than simply relying on historical data or experience. Surveys of U.S. businesses and other employers have repeatedly shown insufficient levels of preparedness for even “normal” emergencies, let alone increasingly extreme disasters fueled by climate change. ^{35 -38} One such example comes from Hurricane Harvey, in 2017. Multiple studies indicate that climate change intensified Harvey’s rainfall, contributing to catastrophic flooding across 70% of Harris County, Texas. ³⁹ At the second busiest emergency department in Houston, shortages in staffing, food, and personal care facilities such as showers while the hospital was surrounded by floodwaters threatened the safety of staff and patients. Researchers determined that although “flexibility of operations prevented poor outcomes” in the emergency department, more rigorous and comprehensive planning and staff training drills could have averted unnecessary physical and mental stress on workers. ⁴⁰

Conclusion

Climate change is already hurting workers and imposing needless health costs on employers. This situation will only worsen as climate change makes weather extremes evermore deadly and disruptive. By being proactive, employers can find the most cost-effective and efficient approaches to maintain business continuity and avoid preventable climate-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths among their workforce.