Climate Change, workplace heat exposure, and Occupational Health and productivity in Central America

 

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kjellstrom, Tord, Crowe, Jennifer
Formato: artículo
Fecha de Publicación:2011
Descripción:Climate change is increasing heat exposure in places such as Central America, a tropical region with generally hot/humid conditions. Working people are at particular risk of heat stress because of the intrabody heat production caused by physical labor. This article aims to describe the risks of occupational heat exposure on health and productivity in Central America, and to make tentative estimates of the impact of ongoing climate change on these risks. A review of relevant literature and estimation of the heat exposure variable wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) in different locations within the region were used to estimate the effects. We found that heat stress at work is a real threat. Literature from Central America and heat exposure estimates show that some workers are already at risk under current conditions. These conditions will likely worsen with climate change, demonstrating the need to create solutions that will protect worker health and productivity.
País:Repositorio UNA
Institución:Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica
Repositorio:Repositorio UNA
Lenguaje:Inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:null:11056/23009
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11056/23009
http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/107735211799041931
Palabra clave:AMÉRICA CENTRAL
CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO
PRODUCTIVIDAD
SALUD OCUPACIONAL
CENTRAL AMERICA
CLIMATE CHANGE
PRODUCTIVITY
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH