Governments and employers should take urgent measures to help protect health workers who are increasingly exposed to extreme heats, they said Friday the United Nations.
Climate change form heat waves more frequent and more intense, and the workers around the world already feel the impact on health, the agencies have said about what they described as a “long-needed report and guidelines last published in 1969. Years.
The productivity of workers decreases for two to three percent for each degree above 20 degrees Celsius, the report is stated, and half of the world’s population is already suffering from the negative consequences of high temperatures.
Health risks include thermal impact, dehydration, kidney dysfunction and neurological disorders, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
Manual workers in sectors such as agriculture, construction and fisheries, as well as vulnerable categories of the population such as children and older people in developing countries, are especially endangered, added.
– Protection of workers from extreme heat is not only a health imperative but also economic necessity – said the Deputy Secretary General WMO, Ko Barrett.
In response, the agencies referred to the preparation of action plans for the heat adapted to the regions and industries, developed together with workers, employers, trade unions and public health professionals.
Unions in some countries are advocating for maximum legal operating temperatures, which are the Agencies Ravele that the option is, but it would probably differentiate globally, depending on the context. They also called for the better education of health workers and emergency services, since the highthotins stress is often misdiagnosed.
The international organization has recently discovered that more than 2.4 billion workers have been exposed to excessive heat worldwide, resulting in more than 22.85 million injuries at work every year.
– No one should risk a kidney failure or collapse for a living – said Rüdigerkrech, the acting director of the environment, climate change and health in the press conference before posting reports, reuters reports.
(Vijesti.ba / Fena)
