Climate change is already having measurable effects on the safety and health of workers in the European Union, according to a new discussion paper from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), published on 18 September 2026. The 49-page report, titled “Climate change-related occupational risks in Europe: unequal impacts on worker safety and health,” combines a literature review with data from the OSH Pulse 2025 survey.
More injuries, less productivity
According to EU-OSHA, climate change is already leading to “increased injuries, adverse health outcomes and productivity losses” in the workplace, partly due to more extreme heat, more wildfires, and changing exposure to ultraviolet radiation and air pollution. Sectors such as construction, agriculture and outdoor work are hit hardest, but the agency stresses that indoor work – for example in poorly ventilated buildings – is not spared either.
Unequal distribution of risks
The report pays explicit attention to differences between groups of workers. Risks turn out to be unevenly distributed based on gender, migration status, age, socio-economic position and employment status. Workers in precarious or informal employment, migrants and older workers face heightened risk, the researchers found, partly because they more often perform physically demanding work or have less access to protective measures and sick-leave arrangements.
For EHS professionals worldwide, the report underlines that heat protocols and climate adaptation cannot be viewed separately from social inequality in the workplace: a uniform approach falls short if it does not also consider who is hit hardest. Similar recommendations are now circulating among regulators outside Europe as well, making the topic relevant in virtually every jurisdiction.
Source: Climate change and OSH: unequal risks across sectors and occupations, 18 September 2026
