Workplace heat stress in the context of rising temperature in India

Abstract

Heat stress is an important aspect in the lives of people working under exposed conditions for long hours. It is interesting to examine the impact of global warming on the occurrence of heat stress in India. This study uses India Meteorological Department (IMD) daily temperature gridded data to investigate the changes in frequency and episodes of extreme temperature events in seven temperature homogenous regions and the country as a whole by applying the guidelines suggested by the World Meteorological Organization 'Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices'. It is emphasized here that climate change may lead to significant increase of heat events and hence heat stress during the hot seasons in most parts of India. Heat stress may cause occupational health risks as well as reductions of work productivity that can have a negative impact on family income and the community economy. It is time to recognize the importance of heat stress as a public health issue and conduct more scientific studies in different parts of India to formulate guidelines for safety measures. Show more