Managing the Impact of Heat in Business: The Importance of Using the Right Metrics
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🌡️Last ​​week, many of us felt a lot of discomfort on terraces, in factories, offices, construction sites, and homes, to the point that any effort became painful, even dangerous. However, the thermometer did not break any records. So what happened? The humidity was abnormally high. However, we know that what impacts health, well-being and safety, whether on holiday or at work, is the heat felt, a measurement that a simple thermometer cannot quantify alone. We need an index that takes into account the humidity in the air, such as the Humidex, an index expressed in °C, combining air temperature and humidity. First introduced in 1965, the current Humidex formula was developed in 1979 by the Meteorological Service of Canada.
🌍For example, on July 30 at noon, near Tours, the temperature under cover was 34.2°C with a humidity level of 69%, giving a Humidex (or perceived heat) of 49.5°C. Towards Poitiers, with a temperature of 34.4°C, the Humidex reached 48°C. By early afternoon in Sarthe, the perceived temperature climbed to 50.2°C, and much of northwestern France was experiencing temperatures felt well above 40°C. The next day was just as unbearable, but by the third day, the situation was starting to improve.
🥵The impact of high temperatures on health is well documented. At work, productivity drops as soon as the temperature exceeds 24°C and drops by half beyond 30°C . In addition, heat causes fatigue, decreased alertness, drowsiness and accidents. As long as the Humidex remains below 29, we are in a comfort zone. Beyond 30, discomfort is felt. Beyond 35, discomfort becomes marked, and beyond 40, the health risk is serious, becoming fatal beyond 54.
🔢This episode only lasted a few days, but it allowed everyone to assess its impact on their business. With climate change, these episodes will multiply and intensify, not everywhere in the same way or at the same speed. Tardigrade AI’s Climate Performance Diagnostic (CPD) is a tool that provides for each site a set of risk metrics, historical and projected, for each climate peril. For heat hazard, the DPC offers numerous risk measures, from Humidex to the number of hot days, the heat wave index, or the evolution of the need for air conditioning, so that each company, whatever its sector, has actionable and relevant information to understand and anticipate.
📣Anticipating is the key : the DPC not only allows decision-makers to access the year-by-year evolution of all climate risk metrics, following the chosen IPCC greenhouse gas reduction scenario. Anticipation is the foundation of resilience, and the DPC is the best tool to build your adaptation strategy.
References: Masterson, J. and Richardson, FA, Humidex, A Method of Quantifying Human Discomfort Due to Excessive Heat and Humidity, Downsview, Ontario, Environment Canada, 1979, 45 p.
Work and environmental health: what challenges to face in the face of climate change? 2023-010 NOR: CESL1100010X. OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. Term of office 2021-2026. Session of April 25, 2023. Rapporteur: Jean-François Naton
Work and climate: How can we address climate change on health at work? CESE ANSES: Health effects of climate change on workers' health. Authors: RĂ©mi Poirier, Henri Bastos.