Researchers raise alarm over harmful impact of extreme heat on outdoor workers

As the country braces for extreme heat in the AprilJune period with the temperatures already starting to rise researchers have sounded the alarm over detrimental effects it can have on outdoor workers in farming construction and other sectorsThe India Meteorological Department recently said abovenormal maximum temperatures were likely over most parts of the country in AprilJune this year and the central and western peninsular parts are expected to face the worst impact Abovenormal heatwave days are likely over most parts of the plains it saidFollowing the adverse weather warning researchers are advocating for novel ways of working outdoors including flexible hours and mandatory breaks to help workers adapt to the effects of heat made increasingly humid because of climate changeDry heat is relatively easier to handle When the body heats up and we drink water there is evaporation and the body cools down However in humid heat evaporation reduces because of high moisture in the air which hampers the bodys cooling mechanism Vimal Mishra Vikram Sarabhai Chair Professor Civil Engineering and Earth Sciences IIT Gandhinagar told PTIDoing intensive labour in such conditions can raise body heat to a level where it can also cause mortality he warned An international study examining how tropical heat impacts outdoor workers has found that for one degree Celsius of additional warming roughly 800 million people will live in areas needing hours of heavy work to be cut down by more than half over the entire yearIn other words one degree Celsius of additional warming heat and humidity will hinder the ability of one in eight people living in the tropics to safely work outdoors during most daylight hours Mishra the studys coauthor wrote in a comment for Nature India an online publication of the Nature PortfolioThe study coled by the USbased Paul G Allen Family Foundation was published in the journal One Earth in March 2024According to the study the world is edging closer to breaching the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement with heat and humidity levels in the tropics having been studied to be closer than ever to human tolerance thresholdsThe increasingly humid heat is likely to affect outdoor workers in Africa and Asia the most because of their large workingage populations likely to rise in coming decades coupled with high reliance on agriculture forestry and fisheries the authors saidAnother study conducted in Tamil Nadu and published in October last year found that occupational exposure to extreme heat more than doubled the risk of miscarriage in pregnant women with the heat generally raising the overall risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomesWe also observed that because of limited access to toilets the women were eating and drinking less resulting in malnutrition This too can impact pregnancy outcomes Vidhya Venugopal the studys corresponding author and professor at the Faculty of Public Health of the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research in Chennai told PTIThe study assessed 800 pregnant women 47 per cent of whom were exposed to heat while working outdoors Among the women exposed to extreme heat 61 per cent had still and preterm births compared to 26 per cent of the women exposed to heat within safe limits it saidFurther 84 per cent of the women exposed to high heat levels birthed babies having low weight compared to 45 per cent of the women exposed to safe levels of heat the firstofitskind study to be conducted in India found It is published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and GynaecologyBiologically the external heat adds to the internal heat generated in pregnant women because of hormones So when these women sweat in the heat the blood flow rushes more towards their organs which lowers the amount flowing towards the foetus thereby hindering their growth and development Venugopal saidMishra said that unless adaptation measures were implemented the vulnerable tropical outdoor workers were in store for a future with more extreme heat accompanied by more pronounced adverse impactsThe researchers also called for the empowerment of outdoor workers by raising their selfawareness and agency in decisionmakingWe suggest workers to avoid labour under harsh conditions We also suggest fewer working hours with changes in working routine in line with the external ambient conditions We further advise workers to take breaks which can also be mandated by agencies employing them Mishra addedVenugopal said outdoor women workers needed to be made more aware of the effects of extreme heat on their health and that primary healthcare centres can play an important role Through primary healthcare centres which the women frequent during their gestation period they can be sensitised about how the extreme heat is impacting them and their offsprings health The government can adopt such measures in mitigating the effects of extreme heat on outdoor women workers she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever