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4 Glob. Lab. Rts. Rep. 6 (2025)
An Elusive Promise: Protecting U.S. Workers from Excessive Heat

handle is hein.journals/glrr4 and id is 6 raw text is: Essays AN ELUSIVE PROMISE: PROTECTING U.S. WORKERS FROM EXCESSIVE HEAT MICHAEL FELSEN United States | Originally written in English To slow and ideally to reverse global warming, countries and economies will need to wean themselves off fossil fuels, expand existing clean technologies and develop new ones, and implement ajust transition for all workers. Butthis will take time, and in the here and now, workers are getting sick and are dying in ever-increasing numbers from over-exposure to extreme heat. Awareness of the dangers posed when workers are exposed to extreme heat is not new. It dates back decades, if not millennia. But it's only in recent years, as global temperatures have relentlessly risen causing noticeable increases in workplace deaths, sicknesses, and injuries, that we've seen ramped-up efforts to acknowledge and effectively address the problem. This paper will focus on howthe safetyand health hazards presented byworkerexposuretoextreme heat have been addressed, with limited success thus far, by federal, state, and local governments in the United States. We'll also examine recent legal and regulatory developments, and how they can be expected to impact efforts to protect workers in this country, in the context of worker and non-governmental organization advocacy to spur action to address this growing challenge. Setting the Stage: A Brief Look at Global Recognition of the Problem A July 25, 2024 report from the ILO, Heat at Work: Implications for Safety and Health, gives these alarming findings: Heat is an invisible force - a silent killer. As record-breaking temperatures continue across various regions, more workers than ever before are losing the fight against excessive heat. The intensification of excessive heat not onlyjeopardizes the safety and health of workers, but also undermines the resilience of economies and the potential for decent work on a global scale., The report continues: This hazard leaves both indoor and outdoor workers at increased risk of health impacts such as heat exhaustion, heatstroke, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, and death. This is not to mention the various mental health effects and increased risk of workplace accidents and injuries. Moreover, when it comes to chronic health impacts such as kidney disease and others, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg. What we know is that across the world, at least 2.41 billion workers were exposed to excessive heat in 2020 (more than 70 per cent of the workforce), leading to more than 22.85 million occupational injuries and 18,970 deaths.2 Simultaneous with the release of the ILO's report, the G20 Labor and Employment Ministers met in Fortaleza, Brazil on July 24-25, 2024. They affirmed the call for a just transition, and also explicitly recognized that heat stress significantly impacts workers, especially those in agriculture, construction, and outdoor labour, and acknowledged the need to implement robust and risk-based policies on occupational safety and health appropriate to adapt to the effects of climate change on workers.3 The ministers 1 ANDREAS FLOURIS ET AL, HEAT AT WORK: IMPLICATIONS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH 75 (2024), https://www~ilo.org/sites/default/ files/2024-07/ILOOSHHeatstressR16. pdf, 2 Id. 3 G20, LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT MINISTERS' MEETING DECLARATION §14(2024), https://g7g2-documrents.org/fileadmin/GG20_ documents/2024/G2/Brazil/Sheroarack/Employment%2© Ministers/1_%2DMinisters%20Language/LEMM%20 Dec-aration!20G20%20Fortaleza 24O7l02_4.pdf 6

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