Climate change is affecting the workplace
Manufacturing hubs in South-East Asia will be less productive in 30 years because of global warming. Global risk analytics company Verisk Maplecroft predicted that rising temperatures and heat stress will affect the employees.
Verisk Maplecroft reveals that within a generation, economies including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines could be as much as a quarter less productive than they are today.
Incremental rises in global temperature and humidity due to climate change are likely to increase the number of working days exceeding safe levels of heat stress, which can cause absenteeism through dizziness, fatigue and nausea and even death in extreme cases. Crops and livestock are also highly susceptible to heat stress, driving food shortages, poverty, and migration – factors that can increase the risk of conflict and instability. Risks are amplified in countries dependent on manufacturing, construction and agriculture.
Verisk Maplecroft estimates that South-East Asia could lose 16% of current labour capacity due to rising heat stress over the next three decades – almost double the shortfall of the two next worst affected regions, the Caribbean and West Africa. Singapore and Malaysia are predicted to experience the heaviest toll, with 25% and 24% decreases from current levels, while Indonesia could see a 21% drop and Cambodia and the Philippines 16%. Thailand and Viet Nam are also expected to experience 12% decreases in labour productivity.
This reflects projections that by 2045 the number of heat stress days in both Singapore and Malaysia will rise to 364 (from 335 and 338 respectively), while Indonesia is set to experience an increase from 303 to 355 heat stress days and the Philippines 276 to 337 days.
Far-sighted companies are already implementing policies addressing heat stress across their operations and supply chains to reduce the impact of absences and sickness. Verisk Maplecroft believes that organisations incorporating climate threats into risk analyses, investment decisions, and employee health guidelines will better prepare themselves for the future business environment.
“Climate change will push heat stress impacts to boiling point with significant implications for both national economies and the health of vulnerable workers,” said Dr James Allan, head of Environment at Verisk Maplecroft. “Governments and business need to identify which assets, sectors, commodities and groups are most at risk and what protective measures should be put in place.”
Category: Features, Health alert
