Protecting UK workers' health and incomes in a warming world

Abstract

The UK’s 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2002, and heatwaves are likely to become more frequent and more severe until at least 2050, regardless of action taken globally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Heatwaves affect workers’ health, labour productivity and labour supply, with largely negative implications for individual incomes, company profits and the economy more broadly. With a limited history of dealing with extreme high temperatures and no statutory maximum working temperature, the UK requires new measures to protect workers’ health which would also likely positively impact firm profitability and economic growth. The authors of this report surveyed 2,000 workers after the period of elevated temperatures in summer 2024 to gain insights into how they were affected. This survey was followed by an expert roundtable with stakeholders from employment unions, local government, national government agencies, academia, the private sector, the charitable sector and chartered professional bodies in the UK. The aim was for the roundtable to co-create evidence-based, practical next steps for better protecting workers against the effects of high temperatures, informed by the survey results and the roundtable participants’ insights.