U.S. and Brazil Launch Global Campaign to Combat Heat Stress for Workers

The PWR campaign seeks to build partnerships, promote social dialogue, conduct research, and enhance international cooperation to address the rising temperatures affecting workers worldwide.

The United States and Brazil, in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) through the Partnership for Workers' Rights (PWR), have launched a global campaign aimed at protecting workers from excessive heat stress. This initiative is led by Brazil's Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE), the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), and the ILO.

The PWR campaign seeks to build partnerships, promote social dialogue, conduct research, and enhance international cooperation to address the rising temperatures affecting workers worldwide.

Celeste Drake, ILO Deputy Director-General, praised the initiative, stating, "I congratulate the governments of Brazil and the United States for taking this initiative, which the ILO fully supports. This campaign, as part of the Partnership for Workers' Rights, provides an excellent opportunity to expand multilateral collaboration on the effects of heat on workers, helping protect them so they can be safe and their work can be productive and effective."

Drake emphasized the ILO's role in providing research, technical expertise, and advice on protecting workers from heat stress. She highlighted that heat stress has a severe impact on billions of workers globally, stressing the importance of social dialogue between workers' and employers' organizations to find practical solutions.

The campaign was launched on July 22, coinciding with the fifth and final technical meeting of the G20 Employment Working Group (EWG). Key participants included Thea Lee, USDOL Deputy Secretary for International Affairs; Joaquim Pintado Nunes, ILO Occupational Safety and Health branch chief; Victor Pellegrini from MTE's Fundacentro; and representatives from employers' and workers' organizations.

Recent ILO research reveals that over 2.4 billion workers, out of a global workforce of 3.4 billion, are likely to face excessive heat during their work, an increase from 65.5% to 70.9% since 2000. Additionally, excessive heat is estimated to cause 22.87 million occupational injuries annually, leading to 18,970 deaths and 2.09 million disability-adjusted life years lost.

The campaign's launch followed a day-long Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Network Annual Meeting in Fortaleza, where experts discussed strategies to mitigate the health impacts of extreme heat on workers. Under Brazil's G20 presidency, the G20's EWG has prioritized ensuring a just transition in the context of digital and energy transformations.