Reuters: Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk, study shows
https://www.reuters.com/business/extreme-heat-puts-garment-factory-workers-risk-study-shows-2024-12-08/Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk, study shows
By Helen Reid
December 8, 2024 6:14 PM EST
Summary- Heat affects workers in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan
- Multinational retailers and brands must find fix
- New EU regulations impose legal liability on firms
LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Workers in some of the world's biggest garment manufacturing hubs in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Pakistan are increasingly exposed to extreme heat as climate change pushes temperatures up, a report found on Sunday, a problem multinational retailers and brands will have to help address.
New European Union regulations make retailers selling in the bloc, like Inditex, H&M and Nike, legally liable for conditions at their suppliers, putting pressure on them to help fund improvements to cool factories they source from.
In Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Karachi,
the number of days with "wet-bulb" temperatures - a measurement that accounts for air temperature as well as humidity - above 30.5 degrees Celsius jumped by 42% in 2020-2024 compared to 2005-2009, researchers at Cornell University's Global Labor Institute found.
Above that threshold, the International Labor Organisation recommends as much rest as work in any given hour to maintain safe core body temperature levels.
https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files-d8/2024-12/gli-hot-air-4-december-2024.pdf