Workplace Heat

Workplace Heat

 

 Nowadays there are many issues connected with constantly escalating climate changes. While some problems caused by global warming find their solution, there are still a multitude of those that do not get proper attention. One of them is workplace heat. I have chosen this topic because I wanted to find out if there were any ways to make the situation better.

Tord Kjellstrom in his article "From Qatar to Vietnam, global heating is making the workplace deadly for millions" (https://bit.ly/2Pwy6vq) (Published: 02.10.2019. Accessed: 10.12.2019) sheds the light on the issue saying that a lot of people suffer from their requirement to work under direct sunlight or in a room with no air to breathe. The author says that not hundreds but thousands of people have already died from diseases caused by dehydration and heat stroke.

Professor Kjellstrom  is strongly convinced in necessity of helping people to prevent danger in a workplace, however, he admits that this task is quite hard: organisations which are responsible for coping with issues concerning the influence of the global warming on well-being of the population ignore the effects of overheating on workers.

In my opinion, there are some solutions to the problem. According to "The case for a legally enforceable maximum temperature" (https://bit.ly/2LHtfGv) (Accessed: 10.12.2019) the temperature above 24°C is considered unacceptable for working because people start to feel bad and lose their concentration. The point is that in the countries like Qatar such conditions are permanent so it would be absolutely impossible to avoid working in this weather. Anyway, the working day should be shortened, and employers have to provide their workers with the opportunity to take regular breaks and have access to drinkable water. As for working indoors, there should be a conditioning system and, again, water supplies. These ways are primitive, but they are better than nothing.

To sum up, there are few methods to tackle the problem which might be pretty expensive for the employers, who have to be interested in well-being of their workers. After all, there are no businesses that are more important than people's lives and health.