The only Safety Professionals' Continuous Professional Development eMagazine in this region.

ISSUE 15 | JULY 2023

So check out this edition for

tips and solutions in dealing
with the heat stress

Feeling the heat 18

SAFETEA FIRST
Heat Stress 21
How Heat Affects and
Dry Your Eyes 34
Working Indoors 48
TABLE OF CONTENTS

18 42
MAR K ET PL AC E
HEAT STRESS MEWP SAFETY
Feeling the heat Crush Protection on MEWPs

21 46
SAFETEA FIRST WORKPLACE SAFETY
Heat Stress Tips & Myths Around Dogs

48
HEAT STRESS HEAT STRESS
SOL-X Heat Stress Detection
Solution Combats Hotter
23 Working Indoors
The Only Safety Showcases Over
Climates for Industrial Workers
& Health Solution 2,500 Solutions By
52
WORKING AT HEIGHT

MANAGING RISKS
SPEAREVO
Marketplace in Asia! More than 55 Vendors
ISO 45001: 26
Top 5 Non-Conformities CLIMATE CHANGE
Impact of Climate Change on
Occupational Safety and Health
58
HEARING PROTECTION – An overview
6 FACTS ABOUT NOISE-INDUCED
HEARING LOSS THAT YOU NEED
31
TO KNOW AI SOLUTIONS
Revolutionizing Motorcycle
Safety: How AI is Saving Lives
62
EYE HEALTH and Reducing Costs
How Heat Affects and 34
Dry Your Eyes

INTERVIEW
Asia’s Leaders in the
Occupational Safety and Health
38
Industry: Er. Ho Siong Hin

www.wshasia.com/marketplace
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CLIMATE CHANGE
Impact of Climate Change on
Occupational Safety and Health
– An overview
by Dr N. Venkataraman
Keywords: Climate change, Hazards, Risk.
1. Introduction
When temperatures rise above the 1.5 deg C
threshold recommended by climate scientists,
the risks to health increase. The temperature in
Singapore averaged 26.54 Celsius from 1825
until 2015, reaching an all-time high of 28.88
Celsius in June of 2014. From 1980 to 2020,
the annual mean temperature increased from
26.9°C to 28.0°C. Temperatures in Singapore
have risen by 0.25oC per decade from 1948
to 2015, while 2023 at 37oC in 2023 was
the hottest year recorded thus far. The mean
sea level in the Straits of Singapore has also
increased at the rate of 1.2mm to 1.7mm per
year in the period 1975 to 2009. Singapore’s
annual rainfall total for Singapore since 1980
has increased at an average rate of 67 mm per
decade. In 2001, the first recorded cyclone
near the equator, Typhoon Vamei, swept north
of Singapore and caused major flooding in the
region. It is uncertain whether such tropical
cyclones near the equator will occur more
frequently in the future.
Singapore was blanketed in haze arising from
forest fires in the region in June 2013, causing
air quality here to hit hazardous levels. In that
period, there was a 30 per cent increase in
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patients with asthma admitted to hospitals.
incidence and severity of allergies, including
asthma and allergic rhinitis, and could impact
mental health as well.
Global climate change has the potential to
affect human health in two significant ways: by
changing the severity and frequency of health
issues already affected by climate factors,
and by creating unprecedented health threats
in places where they have not previously
occurred. Studies show that global warming
will likely amplify health and safety issues for a
number of worker populations. Climate change
can contribute to decreasing the ozone layer
and affect UV radiation levels at the surface of
the earth. Singapore has seen haze as an effect
of forest fires in Indonesia.
The role of safety and health professionals
and key stakeholders need to have a different
mindset, which will be able to identify new
hazards and risks, prevention strategies and
risk controls.
This article attempts to create a suitable
sustainable framework for companies that are
likely to be affected by climate change.
WORLD OF SAFETY & HEALTH DIGITAL MAGAZINE
2. Material and Methods
2.1 Activities where impacts can be felt
Outdoor occupations such as construction,
transportation, oil production, landscaping,
firefighting and other emergency response
operations and hot indoor work environments,
such as steel mills, dry cleaners, manufacturing
facilities, commercial kitchens and warehouses,
are also at risk for climate change impacts,
including extreme heat exposure and indoor air
pollutant.
2.2 Methods
2.2.1 Climate change effects
There is strong evidence that climate change
is and will continue to present risks of work-
related injury and, illness, so numerous critical
research questions need to be resolved
regarding specific hazards, sentinel events,
risk assessment, and preventive actions. The
impact of climate change on workers can be
minimised by understanding the hazards and
taking timely control measures.
Fig -1 shows a graphical representation of the
impact of climate change on occupational health.
JULY 2023
CLIMATE
CHANGE
2.2.2 Impact due to extreme weather
Climate change is also creating extreme
weather events. As wind patterns, temperature
and levels of moisture are altered around the
globe, more frequent and intense weather
events and natural disasters —floods,
landslides, storms, lightning, droughts and
wildfires—take place. Workers responsible
for the rescue and cleanup of these events
are exposed to conditions that could lead to
traumatic injury.
Climate change5 is expected to produce
unprecedented shifts in the environment,
ecology, economics, and population health,
and presents new challenges to the protection
of workers from on-the-job hazards.
2.2.3 Specific Work-Related Hazards5 of
Climate Change
Typical Occupational Safety and Health hazards
associated with Climate change are:
� Exposure to extreme heat results in
occupational illnesses and injuries. Heat
stress can result in heat stroke, heat
exhaustion, heat cramps, or heat rashes.
Heat can also increase the risk of injuries in
workers as it may result in sweaty palms,
fogged-up safety glasses, and dizziness.
� Flooding, Storms and Cyclones - Individuals
with asthma or other respiratory conditions
are more vulnerable to indoor air pollution
and mould that results from excess moisture
or flooding.
� Short-term exposure to a large concentration
of pollutants, such as from haze, may give
rise to a set of acute symptoms known as
the Sick Building Syndrome.
� Vector-borne diseases - Changes in climate
are likely to lengthen the transmission
seasons of important vector-borne diseases
and alter their geographic range.
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 CLIMATE
CHANGE
� Climate change is projected to widen
significantly the area of China where the
snail-borne disease schistosomiasis occurs.
� Mental health problems are common
throughout Asia, and are amplified by
stressors associated with climate change.
Even small to moderate increases in ambient
temperature at work can cause discomfort,
especially if workers are wearing personal
protective equipment, and can increase
exposure to hazardous chemicals.
2.2.4 Who is affected by Climate Change:
Extreme weather events may increase stress
on workers, especially rescue and recovery
workers and healthcare workers. Others who
might be affected are:
� construction workers
� paramedics, firefighters, police, and other
first responders
� transportation workers and marine workers
3. Results and Discussion
3.1 Protecting workers from climate change
It’s imperative that employers, safety
professionals and workers stay informed about
emerging issues and hazards associated
with climate change as a way to address
worker safety and health. Some strategies for
protecting workers include:
� Putting formal monitoring systems in place to
limit worker exposures by altering workday
schedules and/or increasing the frequency
and length of breaks.
� Enhancing personal protective gear, as
needed, and finding alternatives for heat-
inducing protective body gear.
� Tracking changes in occupational exposures
and patterns of injury and illness as they
pertain to climate change.
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� Reinforcing protective practices with small,
sensor-based technology that can pre-warn
workers about exposures.
� Top management commitment and
employee participation in hazard recognition,
assessment, and control, should address
new and increased hazards resulting from
climate change. Training workers to identify
climate-related exposures that can cause
hazards.
� Prevention-through-design strategies can
be implemented to embed worker health
and safety into building more resilient
infrastructure and energy-efficient buildings.
For example, renewable energy facilities,
such as wind-turbine farms, can be designed
to prevent injuries to maintenance workers.
In addition, standards for office buildings that
previously focused on energy use can be
revised to comply with ventilation and other
requirements for workers.
� Regulations and guidelines for the prevention
of climate change–related occupational
hazards, such as extreme heat, will need to
be developed and implemented.
These are actions that employers can take now
to prepare for the inevitable exposures that will
affect their vulnerable worker populations both
now and in the years to come.
Reducing the risks5 of work-related illnesses
and injuries from climate change requires a
three-pronged approach:
1. mitigating the production of greenhouse
gases, the primary cause of climate change;
2. implementing adaptation measures to
address the overall consequences of climate
change; and
3. implementing improved measures for
occupational health and safety.
WORLD OF SAFETY & HEALTH DIGITAL MAGAZINE
4. Conclusion
The relationship between global climate
change and occupational safety and health has
not been extensively characterized. Several
categories of climate-related hazards can be
identified, which include increased ambient
temperature, ultraviolet exposure, extreme
weather, vector-borne diseases and expanded
habitats. Safety and Health risk assessments
have to be more comprehensive and dynamic
to include the impacts of climate change
especially with respect to outdoor activities.
As a result of increased risks of work-related
illnesses and injuries due to climate change,
measures are required to improve the
recognition and prevention of occupational
illnesses and injuries. Clinicians, public health
workers, and others need to be trained to
improve their skills in suspecting and accurately
diagnosing climate-related medical conditions
in workers, especially heat-related disorders,
and helping to prevent these disorders.
Prevention of work-related illnesses and injuries
includes designing and implementing measures
directed at the workplace, such as reducing
physical labour during peak heat, making air
conditioning available wherever feasible, and
scheduling necessary rest periods during
work shifts. It also includes designing and
implementing measures directed at workers,
such as providing adequate information and
training to prevent heat-related disorders,
making lightweight work clothes available, and
ensuring adequate hydration.
Climate change exacerbates existing
occupational health and safety problems and
creates new ones. It presents many challenges
for which new and improved approaches are
necessary.
JULY 2023
CLIMATE
CHANGE
References
1 Climate Change and Occupational Safety and Health,
Download on 20 June 2021 from https://blogs.
cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2014/09/22/climate-
change/
2 Climate change and occupational safety and health:
establishing a preliminary framework, download on
20 June 2021 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/19551548/
3 Hazard Zone: The Impact of Climate Change on
Occupational Health, Download on 20 June 2021
from https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/
impact-of-climate-change-on-occupational-health/
4 “Science Talk: When climate change impacts human
health”, downloaded on 8 Dec 2021 from https://
www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environmdownl
from ent/science-talk-when-climate-change-
impacts-human-health
5 Barry S. Levy and Cora Roelofs, “Impacts of Climate
Change on Workers’ Health and Safety”, https://
doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190632366.013.39,
downloaded on 8 Dec 2021 from https://
oxfordre.com/publichealth/view/10.1093/
acrefore/9780190632366.001.0001/acrefore-
9780190632366-e-39
6 Venkataraman, “Impact of climate change on OSH-
An Overview”, submitted during GLS Summit, 2022,
BCSP
Dr N. Venkataraman
Principal Consultant
Fides Global Pte Ltd., Singapore
venkat@fidesglobal.asia
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