Occupational health impact of exposure to extreme heat: a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Current knowledge of the hazards of heat stress in the work environment, related to global warming and the effects on heat stress, is incipient. Objective: To compile the available evidence of the effects of global warming on the health of workers. Material and Methods: A systematic review was performed retrieving reviews and meta-analyses available in PubMed/MEDLINE and ScienceDirect, using the keywords: climate change, global warming, heat stress, occupational health, and occupational diseases to obtain as many references as possible, filtered by “systematic review and meta-analysis”. The search was restricted to articles published in English from 2012 to July 2022. Results: A total of 541 references were retrieved and 10 articles were finally selected for an in-depth analysis. The included articles were published between 2014 and 2022, but most of them were issued from 2018 onwards. Most of the studies addressed diseases and injuries associated with heat stress in the workplace. Risk factors and heat exposure in outdoor workers and heat stress metrics appeared in six studies. Four articles mentioned cooling or heat mitigation measures. Conclusions: Workers exposed to extreme heat are at increased risk of heat stress, especially those in developing countries in tropical regions. Those workers include agriculture and construction workers, firefighters, miners, soldiers, and manufacturing workers, among others.

Keywords

• cambio climático, calentamiento global, estrés por calor, salud ocupacional, enfermedades ocupacionales.