Impact of climate change on workplace safety and health hazard in facilities management

Abstract

Annually, 4% of global GDP is lost from accidents in workplaces; through stoppages, interruptions, treatment of injuries, rehabilitation and compensation [1]. Workplace safety and health (WSH) is thus a vital component of decent work, and by extension a step towards achieving sustainable development. WSH is considered a key policy area in addressing environmental, economic and social sustainability. This is ever important due to the transforming workplaces amidst the challenges posed by one of the other biggest challenges faced by the world today; climate change [2]. This is especially true for traditional industries such as building and construction, where green retrofitting and climate adaptation have been observed, altering traditional patterns of employment. The negative impacts induced by climate change on employment include damages to buildings and the impact on labour productivity by affecting working conditions and WSH of the facilities management (FM) industry. Such effects of climate change on WSH of future work have not been explored.