{"id":2475,"date":"2025-03-05T13:44:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T13:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/?p=2475"},"modified":"2025-04-08T11:29:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T11:29:51","slug":"adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Adapting workplaces to climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

The summer 2024 saw new global records<\/a><\/em><\/span> in heatwaves, extreme weather events and wildfires in extremely dry regions. According to Copernicus, July 22nd 2024 was the hottest day<\/a><\/em><\/span> on earth in recent history\u2014a record previously broken the day before. Europe is the fastest-warming continent, the European Environmental Agency reports<\/a><\/em><\/span>. Since the 1980s, Europe has heated at about twice the global rate.<\/p>\n

The recently published Lancet Countdown<\/a><\/em><\/span> report for Europe demonstrates<\/a><\/em><\/span> that climate change is already affecting human beings and societies as a whole. It focuses on the adverse health effects, underlining the need for \u2018rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions\u2019. The workplace is a key area for such actions.<\/p>\n

Directly affected<\/h2>\n

Workplaces are directly affected<\/a><\/em><\/span> by climate change. Physical and psychosocial risks<\/a><\/em><\/span> related to work may be reinforced, for instance by rising temperatures and extreme weather events, also affecting workers\u2019 wellbeing. Even only moderately higher temperatures can affect cognitive performance<\/a><\/em><\/span> and decision-making, and increase the risk of work-related accidents and injuries. Outdoor workers, indoor workers without access to cooling and frontline workers are particularly vulnerable, as the Lancet report highlighted.<\/p>\n

While employers are legally responsible for the health and safety of workers and are obliged to carry out risk assessments under binding European Union legislation<\/a><\/em><\/span>, staff representatives and local trade unions play a crucial role in regulating workplace hazards. They can prompt employers to reduce on-the-job hazards, influence the level of regulatory oversight and educate workers about occupational risks<\/a><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Additionally, emerging or reinforced risks linked to climate change can be addressed through social dialogue between employers and trade unions in the workplace or at sector level. This can entail such measures<\/a><\/em><\/span> as reducing the time spent on high-intensity activities, introducing longer periods of rest or adapting workday schedules.<\/p>\n

Workplace risk assessments<\/h2>\n

Despite these potentialities, employers and unions seem slow<\/a><\/em><\/span> to include adaptation to climate change in their policies on occupational safety and health (OSH), possibly because they still consider related hazards as exceptional. Mandatory workplace risk assessments\u2014a key tool for identifying and mitigating hazards in accordance with EU legislation\u2014are often implemented unevenly<\/a><\/em><\/span>, across countries, sectors and companies of different sizes.<\/p>\n

A major obstacle<\/a><\/em><\/span>, according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, is the belief that occupational risks are already well-known. This may be particularly dangerous when it comes to climate change, given the magnitude and cumulative character of the changes under way\u2014likely only to become more severe.<\/p>\n

Specific workplace-level indicators are needed to monitor developments and enable tailor-made adaptation initiatives. To broaden the basis for evidence-based policy-making, insights from public statistics are necessary\u2014large-sample European surveys which gather information in various countries and sectors could be expanded on.<\/p>\n

Detailed knowledge lacking<\/h2>\n

The European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER<\/a><\/em><\/span>) contains various items on risk assessments. These could be extended to gather information on the number of companies incorporating climate-related aspects.<\/p>\n

While it is likely that risk assessments in sectors such as construction, where outdoor work prevails, already include aspects such as heat or exposure to ultraviolet radiation, we lack detailed knowledge. It also remains to be seen whether such aspects play a role where employee representation and OSH culture are weaker, particularly in smaller service-sector workplaces.<\/p>\n

Climate change itself brings psychosocial risks, such as fear of job loss or at least job transition, with various sectors undergoing<\/a><\/em><\/span> transformation. Whether the risks thus generated are addressed in workplaces is an empirical question too.<\/p>\n

The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS<\/a><\/em><\/span>), which targets individual workers, includes a question on \u2018exposure to heat\u2019 and a range of other items on health and safety at work. Additional questions, focused on whether a risk assessment has been carried out or specific actions taken to address climate change within their workplace, would provide valuable insights. Although the EWCS does target workers, not workplaces, the information they offer can provide clues about the engagement of workplaces with climate change.<\/p>\n

Until statistical indicators and data addressing the implications of climate change for workplaces become available, qualitative research can help raise awareness and identify practices suitable for large-scale replication. Such research should focus on concrete initiatives to adapt workplaces to the new realities resulting from climate change.<\/p>\n

Health-promoting work<\/h2>\n

To deal with climate change, researchers, policy-makers and the social partners should put a focus on the workplace and aspects related to it. It is the context in which decisions about work design are taken.<\/p>\n

Organising work in a human and health-promoting way in times of climate change is crucial. On the one hand, it keeps workers employed amid staff shortages and so affects prosperity. On the other, it contributes to preventing occupational diseases and subsequent early retirement, benefiting workers\u2019 health and social security and welfare systems alike.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on Social Europe<\/a><\/span>. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their employers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The recently published Lancet Countdown report for Europe demonstrates that climate change is already affecting human beings and societies as a whole. It focuses on the adverse health effects, underlining the need for \u2018rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions\u2019. The workplace is a key area for such actions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-sustainable-development","topic-work","format-text"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAdapting workplaces to climate change - Improof<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adapting workplaces to climate change\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The recently published Lancet Countdown report for Europe demonstrates that climate change is already affecting human beings and societies as a whole. It focuses on the adverse health effects, underlining the need for \u2018rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions\u2019. The workplace is a key area for such actions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Improof\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-05T13:44:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-08T11:29:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/worker.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1076\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nermin Plavsic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Adapting workplaces to climate change\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The recently published Lancet Countdown report for Europe demonstrates that climate change is already affecting human beings and societies as a whole. It focuses on the adverse health effects, underlining the need for \u2018rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions\u2019. The workplace is a key area for such actions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/worker.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nermin Plavsic\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nermin Plavsic\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8b7e0720f9ab34bd8b12af9dbf2592a6\"},\"headline\":\"Adapting workplaces to climate change\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-05T13:44:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-08T11:29:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/\"},\"wordCount\":817,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/\",\"name\":\"Adapting workplaces to climate change - Improof\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-05T13:44:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-08T11:29:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Adapting workplaces to climate change\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Improof\",\"description\":\"Tagline goes here\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Improof\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/improof-logo-svg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/improof-logo-svg.png\",\"width\":652,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Improof\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8b7e0720f9ab34bd8b12af9dbf2592a6\",\"name\":\"Nermin Plavsic\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b010c13286dbffe130fb77dd68cc999?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b010c13286dbffe130fb77dd68cc999?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nermin Plavsic\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/author\/nermin-plavsic\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Adapting workplaces to climate change - Improof","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Adapting workplaces to climate change","og_description":"The recently published Lancet Countdown report for Europe demonstrates that climate change is already affecting human beings and societies as a whole. It focuses on the adverse health effects, underlining the need for \u2018rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions\u2019. The workplace is a key area for such actions.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/","og_site_name":"Improof","article_published_time":"2025-03-05T13:44:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-08T11:29:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1076,"url":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/worker.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nermin Plavsic","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Adapting workplaces to climate change","twitter_description":"The recently published Lancet Countdown report for Europe demonstrates that climate change is already affecting human beings and societies as a whole. It focuses on the adverse health effects, underlining the need for \u2018rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions\u2019. The workplace is a key area for such actions.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/worker.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nermin Plavsic","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/"},"author":{"name":"Nermin Plavsic","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8b7e0720f9ab34bd8b12af9dbf2592a6"},"headline":"Adapting workplaces to climate change","datePublished":"2025-03-05T13:44:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-08T11:29:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/"},"wordCount":817,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/","url":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/","name":"Adapting workplaces to climate change - Improof","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-05T13:44:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-08T11:29:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/adapting-workplaces-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Adapting workplaces to climate change"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/","name":"Improof","description":"Tagline goes here","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#organization","name":"Improof","url":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/improof-logo-svg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/improof-logo-svg.png","width":652,"height":209,"caption":"Improof"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8b7e0720f9ab34bd8b12af9dbf2592a6","name":"Nermin Plavsic","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b010c13286dbffe130fb77dd68cc999?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b010c13286dbffe130fb77dd68cc999?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nermin Plavsic"},"url":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/articles\/author\/nermin-plavsic\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2475"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2569,"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475\/revisions\/2569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improof.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}