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Whether you’re crankier than usual, avoiding turning on the oven, or extending your grocery shopping just to soak up some free AC, the summer heat is getting to all of us.
Europe is being hit hard, and the northern part of the region is predicted to see some of the biggest relative increase in heat exposure in the world. People who work outdoors are bearing the brunt of the changes as their governments try to adapt.
Where in the world? In Italy, where around 18,000 people died from heat-related causes last summer, the government will send some construction and agriculture workers home under a provision in its furlough rules that says Italian companies may apply to put their employees on temporary layoffs, according to Reuters. In Greece, Acropolis workers voted to strike to protest working conditions caused by 113-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, reported Forbes. In France, labor laws protect workers from unsafe working conditions, including mandating a water provision for construction workers, and Spain is currently working on heat legislation for outdoor workers.
“Mitigating the effects of exposure to heat is what is required and this will depend on the individual and the workplace. It is a health and safety matter where assessment is key,” Martin Williams, head of employment at UK law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, told the Independent.
Satellite view. In the US, 36 workers died from heat exposure in 2021, the lowest number since 2017, according to the BLS. And President Biden has announced more protections for outdoor workers amid the hottest days of the year.
Employers may need to consider how to shift work schedules to accommodate the intense weather. “Contemporary work arrangements like remote work, hybrid work, four-day weeks…and six-hours-a-day working days in a week instead of eight hours are proving to be helpful in heat wave situations,” Mansoor Soomro, a senior lecturer in sustainability and international business at Teesside University International Business School in the UK, told the BBC.
Here’s hoping cooler weather and pumpkin spice lattes are around the corner.