Rising Heat Threatens Colombia’s Workers as Climate Risks Deepen Across Key Economic Sectors

ILO research finds that rising temperatures are increasing occupational mortality in Colombia, with assemblers, agricultural workers, healthcare staff and teachers among the most vulnerable groups. The findings call for stronger workplace heat protection, wider social security coverage and climate-resilient investment by governments, development partners and businesses.

Climate change is increasingly becoming a workplace and economic challenge for Colombia, with rising temperatures linked to higher mortality among workers in agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, education and other sectors. Research by the International Labour Organization (ILO), using mortality data from Colombia's National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), temperature records from the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), and employment information from the Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares (GEIH), shows that extreme heat could have serious implications for worker safety, productivity and development.

The study examined the period from 2017 to 2021, combining occupational mortality and temperature information from 297 municipalities covering about 59 per cent of Colombia's population. The final analysis included 59,539 deaths among people below the age of 60.

Heat is hitting some occupations much harder

Across all occupations, monthly maximum temperatures between 26°C and 32°C were associated with around 0.04 additional deaths per 1,000 workers. When temperatures exceeded 32°C, the figure increased to approximately 0.09 additional deaths per 1,000 workers.

However, the impact varied sharply between occupations. Assemblers emerged as the most vulnerable group, recording around 0.63 additional deaths per 1,000 workers when temperatures reached 26°C–32°C and 1.33 per 1,000 when they crossed 32°C.

Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers recorded about 0.22 additional deaths per 1,000 workers at temperatures above 32°C. Metal and machinery trades workers registered approximately 0.15.

Heat risks were not limited to outdoor and manual workers. Health associate professionals recorded around 0.40 additional deaths per 1,000 workers above 32°C, while teaching professionals recorded approximately 0.21.

Gender differences were also significant. Across occupations, heat-associated mortality above 32°C was around 0.12 deaths per 1,000 male workers, more than twice the corresponding female rate. But female health-associated professionals faced particularly high risks, at approximately 0.48 deaths per 1,000 workers.

A climate problem is becoming a development challenge

The findings have wider economic implications because extreme heat can reduce workers' physical capacity, increase absenteeism and interrupt production. Businesses can consequently face lower productivity alongside higher health and operating costs.

Earlier ILO estimates indicated that Colombia was already among the South American economies facing relatively high productivity losses from heat stress, with losses estimated at around 0.55 per cent in 1995. Continued warming could increase these pressures, particularly in labour-intensive sectors.

The challenge is greater because a large part of Colombia's workforce operates informally. The ILO estimated informality at around 56 per cent in 2024. Informal workers may have limited access to regulated breaks, cooling facilities, occupational health monitoring and employment-injury protection.

There is also a major social protection gap. Although general health insurance covered around 99 per cent of Colombia's population in 2024, only about 53 per cent of workers were covered by the General System of Occupational Risks. Coverage has improved from around 35 per cent in 2010, but millions of workers potentially remain outside occupational protection systems.

Governments and development partners have a bigger role

For policymakers, the research suggests that extreme heat should be addressed not only through climate policy but also through labour regulations, public health, social protection, agriculture, education and industrial planning.

Practical measures can be relatively straightforward: reliable drinking water, regular rest periods, modified working hours during extreme heat, shaded or ventilated recovery spaces, suitable protective equipment, worker training, acclimatisation programmes and medical monitoring.

For international development partners, the findings point to opportunities to connect climate finance more directly with employment and human development. Multilateral development banks, UN agencies, bilateral donors and climate funds could support better rural weather monitoring, occupational heat surveillance and heat-resilient schools, hospitals and workplaces.

Agriculture, construction and manufacturing could receive particular attention because adaptation investments in these sectors could protect workers while reducing productivity losses and strengthening economic resilience.

Businesses face risks, but adaptation creates opportunities

For the private sector, heat is becoming an operational risk that companies may increasingly need to include in business planning. Higher temperatures can contribute to absenteeism, health problems, production interruptions and reduced working capacity. Companies that fail to prepare could also face growing regulatory, insurance and reputational risks.

But adaptation also creates business opportunities. Rising demand for energy-efficient cooling, improved ventilation, heat-resistant infrastructure, wearable temperature-monitoring devices, protective clothing, hydration systems and worker-health technologies could create new markets.

Important knowledge gaps remain. The study uses dry-air temperature rather than broader heat-stress indicators that also measure humidity, wind and radiant heat. Rural workers may also be underrepresented because weather stations are concentrated around more populated locations.

Future research should therefore examine heat-related illnesses alongside deaths, improve data collection among rural and informal workers, and identify which workplace interventions produce the strongest health and productivity benefits.

For Colombia, the central message is increasingly clear: protecting workers from rising temperatures is not simply an occupational health measure. It is an investment in productivity, social protection, business resilience and sustainable development.