‘Zonked the hell out’: Climate change and heat stress at work

Abstract

Climate change is most directly felt by people who cannot escape its impacts, including workers whose source of livelihood may put them directly at risk from high heat. Research on these impacts for Australian workers, especially the sociopolitical determinants of effective workplace heat management, remains limited. This article presents findings from a national research project that investigated these issues in collaboration with the Australia-based United Workers Union. It reports on the experiences of members exposed to high heat, explores how they address heat stress and how they relate this to climate change. The article expands understanding of the impacts of workplace heat, especially for indoor workers and those in lower paid jobs, through a focus on how workers articulate their experiences and understand and exercise their agency at work. JEL codes: Q54, J28

For and against climate capitalism

“…Struggles over the conditions of this work-and the extent of its superexploitation under climate-induced suffering (e.g. Humphrys et al, 2022;Jordan & Widmer, 2019)-go to the heart of struggles with climate capitalism.…”

Climate Change Effects on the Predicted Heat Strain and Labour Capacity of Outdoor Workers in Australia

“…Australian workers commonly (>90%) report being affected by heat on hot days [29], with fatigue, irritability, headache, dizziness, fainting, and nausea the most commonly reported symptoms [29,30], so much so that they have been classified as chronic [31]. Moreover, symptoms of exertional heat illness are common among outdoor workers in northern Australia, particularly in the mining and construction industries and in the military and first responders [20,24,27,32,33].…”