THE “HOTHAPS” PROGRAM FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND PREVENTION

The Hothaps (High Occupational Temperature Health and Productivity Suppression) program is designed to carry out research and impact analysis on direct effects of heat exposure on working people (including vulnerable populations such as pregnant women). It aims to quantify the likely increase of exposures and effects due to climate change in different locations (focus on Tropical low and middle income countries), and to identify and promote feasible ways to reduce exposures and effects. The broader links between climate change and the health and productivity of working people are also studied in a variety of geographic settings, including Tropical and Circumpolar (mainly Arctic) areas.    The detailed agenda for research, analysis and action will be described. Methods description, guidance materials and proposed research protocols have been made available to researchers. Pilot studies have been carried out to document the impacts of high heat exposure on health and productivity in existing workplace situations in several countries, in Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia. More comprehensive studies are under way in some of these countries.     Available results indicate that occupational effects of heat exposure are common. At temperatures above 40º C, many workers cannot work at all, and in the range 35-40º C, at least 30% of work capacity is lost. Analysis of the climate change trends at local level shows that many hundred million working people in tropical areas will experience longer periods at such excessive heat exposures. Using calculated WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) as an indicator of heat exposures in different regions, it appears that, by 2050, heat associated to climate change may reduce effective work capacity by 5-14% during daylight working hours in regions like West Africa and South Asia. This underlines the necessity of specific prevention programs for occupational health and the local economy, including well-designed climate conscious workplaces.