Association between heat stress and occupational injury among Thai workers: findings of the Thai Cohort Study.

Global warming will increase heat stress at home and at work. Few studies have addressed the health consequences in tropical low and middle income settings such as Thailand. We report on the association between heat stress and workplace injury among workers enrolled in the large national Thai Cohort Study in 2005 (N=58,495). We used logistic regression to relate heat stress and occupational injury separately for males and females, adjusting for covariate effects of age, income, education, alcohol, smoking, Body Mass Index, job location, job type, sleeping hours, existing illness, and having to work very fast. Nearly 20% of workers experienced occupational heat stress which strongly and significantly associated with occupational injury (adjusted OR 2.12, 95%CI 1.87-2.42 for males and 1.89, 95%CI 1.64-2.18 for females). This study provides evidence connecting heat stress and occupational injury in tropical Thailand and also identifies several factors that increase heat exposure. The findings will be useful for policy makers to consider work-related heat stress problems in tropical Thailand and to develop an occupational health and safety program which is urgently needed given the looming threat of global warming.

[1]  Sasitorn Taptagaporn,et al.  Health impact of climate change on occupational health and productivity in Thailand , 2010, Global health action.

[2]  Workplace injury or "part of the job"?: towards a gendered understanding of injuries and complaints among young workers. , 2007, Social science & medicine.

[3]  S Hygge,et al.  Thermal stress and human performance. , 1990, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[4]  Tord Kjellstrom,et al.  Association Between Occupational Heat Stress and Kidney Disease Among 37 816 Workers in the Thai Cohort Study (TCS) , 2012, Journal of epidemiology.

[5]  J. Palutikof,et al.  Climate change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Summary for Policymakers. , 2007 .

[6]  R. Kovats,et al.  Impacts of global environmental change on future health and health care in tropical countries. , 1998, British medical bulletin.

[7]  K. Dear,et al.  The ‘Hothaps’ programme for assessing climate change impacts on occupational health and productivity: an invitation to carry out field studies , 2009, Global health action.

[8]  K. Cho,et al.  Occupational health hazards of mine workers. , 1978, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

[9]  A. Mathee,et al.  Climate change impacts on working people (the HOTHAPS initiative): findings of the South African pilot study , 2010, Global health action.

[10]  R. McClure,et al.  Review of injuries over a one year period among 87,134 adults studying at an open university in Thailand. , 2010, The Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health.

[11]  P. Zimmet,et al.  Criteria and classification of obesity in Japan and Asia-Oceania. , 2005, World review of nutrition and dietetics.

[12]  T. Kjellstrom,et al.  The association between overall health, psychological distress, and occupational heat stress among a large national cohort of 40,913 Thai workers , 2010, Global health action.

[13]  S. Siriruttanapruk,et al.  Occupational health and safety situation and research priority in Thailand. , 2004, Industrial health.

[14]  Simone Orlandini,et al.  Relationship between work-related accidents and hot weather conditions in Tuscany (central Italy). , 2006, Industrial health.

[15]  Tord Kjellstrom,et al.  The Direct Impact of Climate Change on Regional Labor Productivity , 2009, Archives of environmental & occupational health.

[16]  Tord Kjellstrom,et al.  Climate Change, Workplace Heat Exposure, and Occupational Health and Productivity in Central America , 2011, International journal of occupational and environmental health.

[17]  R. McClure,et al.  Risk factors for injury in a national cohort of 87,134 Thai adults , 2012, Public health.

[18]  Tord Kjellstrom,et al.  Climate change, direct heat exposure, health and well-being in low and middle-income countries , 2009, Global health action.

[19]  M. Koehoorn,et al.  Descriptive Epidemiology of Serious Work-Related Injuries in British Columbia, Canada , 2012, PloS one.

[20]  A. McMichael,et al.  The urban environment and health in a world of increasing globalization: issues for developing countries. , 2000, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

[21]  Thomas E. Bernard,et al.  The relationship between outdoor thermal conditions and acute injury in an aluminum smelter , 2005 .

[22]  E. Hansen,et al.  Health Issues of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers , 2010, Journal of health care for the poor and underserved.

[23]  C. Bain,et al.  Cohort profile: The Thai Cohort of 87,134 Open University students. , 2008, International journal of epidemiology.

[24]  J. B. Erickson,et al.  Predictors of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses: National Survey Findings , 2004, Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene.

[25]  Tord Kjellstrom,et al.  Workplace heat stress, health and productivity – an increasing challenge for low and middle-income countries during climate change , 2009, Global health action.

[26]  M. Taniguchi.  Anthropogenic effects on subsurface temperature in Bangkok , 2006 .

[27]  D. Dawson,et al.  Heavy drinking and the risk of occupational injury. , 1994, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[28]  T. Kjellstrom,et al.  Regional maps of occupational heat exposure: past, present, and potential future , 2010, Global health action.