Workers and Climate Adaptation at Work
Heat stress is amongst the biggest causes of weather-related sick leave – but climate change is affecting workers' health, wellbeing and productivity year-round. Floods and droughts also have really negative impacts on workers.
Workers and Climate Adaptation at Work is the first UK study to examine how workers are adapting to a range of climate hazards, including heat, flooding, drought, storms, snow and ice, and air-pollution-related conditions.
More than half of workers (56%) reported being affected by at least one extreme weather event at work, while a majority reported negative impacts on both productivity and wellbeing. Agriculture, emergency services, and transport and logistics workers are particularly exposed, with outdoor and physically demanding work emerging as the strongest predictors of risk.
The findings show that only 26% of employers have a climate adaptation or extreme-weather plan and only 30% of workers have received training on managing weather impacts at work. Drawing on the first UK evidence base that goes beyond heat alone, this study shows why climate adaptation should now be treated as a workplace health, labour rights and economic productivity issue.
Study written by University of Leeds colleagues: Professor Vera Trappmann, Dr Susanne Lorenz, Dr Andrea Taylor, Professor Suraje Dessai, Kexin Geng, Gina Moran
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