Adapting PPE to global warming for better thermal comfort
We've all experienced it over the last few years: hot weather affects the world of work. But it also has an impact on a greater or lesser scale:
- firstly, technicians and operators: according to the INRS (Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité), there is an increased risk to health when working :
. above 28°C for a task requiring physical effort,
. above 30°C for sedentary activity.
Heat and dehydration can lead to a loss of alertness, reactivity, or even fatigue, malaise or sunstroke, increasing the risk of accidents in the workplace.
- France Stratégie points out that the heatwaves that have occurred in Europe in recent years have had an economic cost in terms of lower GDP,
- Finally, a global study carried out between 2001 and 2020 indicates that exposure to heat is the cause of 650 billion lost working hours per year*.
Construction, industry, agriculture, maintenance of electrical or communications networks... In these front-line sectors, guaranteeing safe and comfortable working conditions for operators is not only a duty, but also in the interests of employers.
Last January, the World Meteorological Organisation confirmed that:
2023 was the hottest year on record. Adapting work to climate change is therefore an essential economic and public health issue.