Line of action:

Drivers of biodiversity loss

Status:

Finalizado

Execution date:

2023

End date:

2025

Total budget:

€120,216.67

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

€84,151.67

Heatwaves and events have a serious impact on occupational health and safety, both in outdoor spaces and in indoor spaces lacking cooling measures. In addition, these episodes affect productivity.

In the face of the growing risk they pose, the preventive management of heat stress due to heat at work is, according to the entity, one of the keys to the adaptation of companies to climate change and is essential for the protection of particularly exposed, vulnerable and sensitive groups, and particularly for the protection of pregnant and lactating women.

This project gives a boost to the adaptive response of companies to climate change, helping to materialize some of the objectives established in the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC). Specifically, it will generate knowledge and tools to promote the advance planning of measures that accommodate business activity to these events, through the participation of workers.

The general objective of the project is to promote and improve the adaptation of productive activities and the provision of services to events and heat waves, through the participation of workers, in order to protect health, safety and labour productivity.

As specific goals, it has the following:

• To synthesize recent scientific publications on the impact of heat events in terms of health, safety and well-being of the working population and on productivity.
• Characterise the starting situation with respect to the preparation by companies of plans for the adaptation of production activity or services to heat events, for the protection of occupational health, in the context of adaptation to climate change.
• Prepare an intervention proposal for the promotion of advance management by companies (including SMEs) for adaptation to events and heat waves, with the participation of workers.
• Develop a set of resources for workers and companies to promote the adaptation of companies and organisations to heatwave events and waves, the preventive management of risks associated with heat stress due to heat and the application of the gender perspective.
• Disseminate the project’s outputs to promote the adaptation of companies and organizations to events and heat waves.

• Bibliographic review and reports and publications, focusing on scientific articles and paying special attention to those published in the last 3 years and those that refer to the Spanish working population.
• Diagnosis of opinion on the preventive management of heat events. Toolswill be developed (script for semi-structured interviews and questionnaire to be completed online) for the collection of perceptions and opinions of social agents, workers and experts, on practices in the adaptation of productive and service activities to heat events, for the protection of the health and safety of workers.
• Interviews with previously identified key informants : different social agents and experts related to the protection of the health and safety of workers.
• Diagnostic questionnaire on the management of adaptation to climate change aimed at workers in various sectors of activity affected by heatwave events and waves in the exercise of their activities and in their workplaces.
• Diagnostic report of the starting situation and identified needs for the promotion of the preventive management of heat events.
• Preparation and validation of the preliminary document of intervention proposal for the adaptation of productive activities to events and heat waves.
• Document of conclusions and proposal for intervention for the promotion of advance management by companies for adaptation to events and heat waves, with the participation of workers.
• Practical guide for the adaptation of companies to heat events, aimed at the full protection of the health of workers, considering the different degrees of exposure, sensitivity and vulnerability, with a gender perspective.
• Informative brochure for the promotion of the adaptation of companies to heat events, considering the needs of specific groups and the gender dimension.
• Audiovisual resources for distribution in communication channels, in order to raise awareness among the working population and entrepreneurs in companies potentially affected by heat events.
• Public day for the presentation of the results of the project, including the diagnosis of the situation and needs and dissemination materials.
• Distribution of the resources developed in the project (conclusions document and proposal for intervention, practical guide, brochure and audiovisual materials).
• Dissemination and communication actions of the project developed throughout its execution.

• A diagnosis has been made, based on more than 3,300 questionnaires and 20 interviews, which shows a high exposure to heat stress in many sectors, especially in manual and precarious jobs, where preventive measures are insufficient and only 27% of the working population considers itself adequately protected.
• Relevant inequalities in heat protection have been identified, associated with the type of work, gender and working conditions, which underlines the importance of incorporating the social and gender perspective in preventive management.
• Structural barriers have been identified – economic costs, lack of protocols, low participation and lack of reliable data – that hinder the implementation of effective measures.
• An intervention proposal validated by experts has been developed, which includes the integration of heat stress prevention in business management as a legal obligation, the development of specific and binding protocols in collective agreements, the reinforcement of the Labour Inspectorate, the improvement of health surveillance, the training and awareness of workers and employers, and the incorporation of the gender perspective and attention to vulnerable groups.
• Informative materials have been prepared with the results obtained, in particular, a guide, an informative brochure and different audiovisual resources — which facilitate preventive action and have been disseminated, reaching more than 10,000 people and consolidating the transfer of knowledge to key actors.