Dr. Andreas Flouris is a professor of Physiology at the Univ. Thessalia and the scientist behind the International Labor Organization’s report “Heat Stress at Work: Implications for Health and Safety”
Last Thursday, July 25, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, invited the international media to the Agency’s offices in New York to make a historic announcement: that the data now clearly show that heat is a “silent killer” which kills about half a million people worldwide every year. Of these, 180 thousand live in Europe. Mr. Guterres appealed to governments and organizations around the world to join forces to address this situation, underlining that one of the population groups most affected are workers. He came to this conclusion based on an International Labor Organization (ILO) report that was also released last week. This report was written by a Greek professor.
Dr Andreas Flouris is Professor of Physiology at the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science of the University of Thessaly and is the scientist behind the International Labor Organization report entitled “Thermal Stress at Work: Implications for Health and Safety”. As Dr. Flouris reports to APE-MBE, “the report’s data show that areas where people were not used to the heat, such as central and northern Europe, will have an increased risk in the near future, while workers in areas with warm climates, such as Greece, will face even more dangerous conditions.” Continuing, Dr. Flouris emphasizes that “The effects of heat stress on human physiology are very serious, because increased body temperature significantly affects, among other things, the functioning of our nervous system. Thus, most of the time the person does not realize that something alarming is happening, makes wrong decisions operating with reduced mental capacity, while often experiencing a strong disturbance in movement coordination and reaction speed. In this light,” states Dr. Fluris, “we could say that a person with hyperthermia is like a drunk driver, who thinks he can drive safely, often resulting in tragic consequences for himself and those around him. .”
Describing the main points of the report he prepared for him International Labor Organization, Dr. Flouris explains that “every year in total, 2.41 billion workers worldwide are exposed to dangerous levels of heat stress, which annually causes 22.85 million occupational diseases and accidents that cost the lives of 19 thousand people. In Greece, it is estimated that 1,500 occupational diseases and accidents occur every year due to heat stress, while we have an additional 2 to 3 deaths of our fellow human beings. Although Africa and the Middle East are the regions of the world where workers are exposed to heat stress most often, the workplace climate in Europe is warming faster than any other region of the world.”
As Dr. Flouris explains, “an important finding is that only 10% of worker exposure occurs during what are considered “hot” periods. And since in Greece and many other countries, measures against heat stress are only taken during hot weather, this means that workers are unprotected 9 out of 10 times they experience heat stress. It is therefore extremely important to take measures on a permanent basis, not just in emergency situations.” Continuing, he explains that “the report analyzed the legislation to deal with worker heat stress taken in 21 countries around the world. It also presents the situation in Greece and extols the process followed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, having set up a Technical Working Group with the participation of service agents, representatives of workers and employers, scientists, as well as with the help of the National Meteorological Service. Through evaluations in many workplaces in Greece and utilizing good practices from other countries, the Technical Team formulated a documented set of heat stress prevention measures.”
Continuing, Dr. Flouris emphasizes that “the report of the International Labor Organization states that the measures that have been proposed in Greece and the process of creating them are a model that other countries should imitate. But, unfortunately, the measures have not yet been adopted into law. Even worse is the fact that during the heatwaves emergency measures are announced, which are far from what the Technical Group proposed. For example, the emergency measures set a limit of 40 degrees Celsius and consider that workers should be protected when the temperature exceeds this level. But the 40 point limit is purely psychological, a round number and nothing else. There is no scientific data to show that workers’ health and productivity are compromised from 40 degrees and above. What the Technical Group recommends is that, along with ambient temperature, humidity, thermal radiation and wind speed should also be taken into account. In fact, this is in line with international practices and the recommendations of the International Labor Organization.”
In closing, Dr. Flouris wishes “that the documented set of measures to prevent workers’ heat stress formed by the Technical Group recommended by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security will soon be adopted. The new report of the International Labor Organization places Greece among the leading countries internationally in this issue. It’s time to step up to that role.”
Source: Skai
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