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Heat and Worker Health

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Ireland
  • David Johnston
  • Rachel Knott

Abstract

Extreme heat negatively impacts cognition, learning, and task performance. With increasing global temperatures, workers may therefore be at increased risk of work-related injuries and illness. This study estimates the effects of temperature on worker health using records spanning 1985-2020 from an Australian mandatory insurance scheme. High temperatures are found to cause significantly more claims, particularly among manual workers in outdoor-based industries. These adverse effects have not diminished across time, with the largest effect observed for the 2015-2020 period, indicating increasing vulnerability to heat. Within occupations, the workers most adversely affected by heat are female, older-aged and higher-earning. Finally, results from firm-level panel analyses show that the percentage increase in claims on hot days is largest at "safer" firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Ireland & David Johnston & Rachel Knott, 2023. "Heat and Worker Health," Papers 2301.11554, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2301.11554
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    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.11554
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz & David N. Margolis, 1999. "High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(2), pages 251-334, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Albanese, Andrea & Deschenes, Olivier & Gathmann, Christina & Nieto, Adrian, 2025. "Extreme Temperatures, Health and Retirement," Working Papers 2025:8, Lund University, Department of Economics, revised 28 Oct 2025.
    2. Matteo Picchio & Jan C. Ours, 2025. "High temperatures and workplace injuries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 69(4), pages 2339-2369, October.
    3. Bressler, R. Daniel & Papp, Anna & Sarmiento, Luis & Shrader, Jeffrey G. & Wilson, Andrew J., 2025. "Working Under the Sun: The Role of Occupation in Temperature-Related Mortality in Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 17759, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Nicole Black & Lachlan Deer & David W. Johnston & Johannes S. Kunz, 2023. "Are You Okay? Effects of a National Peer-Support Campaign on Mental Health," Papers 2023-08, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    5. Andrew Ireland & David Johnston & Rachel Knott, 2024. "Impacts of Extreme Heat on Labor Force Dynamics," Papers 2024-01, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    6. Filomena, Mattia & Picchio, Matteo, 2024. "Unsafe temperatures, unsafe jobs: The impact of weather conditions on work-related injuries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 851-875.
    7. Marin, Giovanni & Oo, Aung Tun, 2025. "Sectoral exposure to heat: heterogeneous impacts of extreme heat on workplace accidents in Italy," FEEM Working Papers 376269, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    8. Molitor, David & White, Corey, 2024. "Do cities mitigate or exacerbate environmental damages to health?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    9. Picchio, Matteo & van Ours, Jan C., 2024. "The impact of high temperatures on performance in work-related activities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    10. Drescher, Katharina & Janzen, Benedikt, 2025. "When weather wounds workers: The impact of temperature on workplace accidents," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    11. Edoardo Santoni & Margherita Scarlato & Nicolò Barbieri & Caterina Conigliani, 2025. "Heat and work-related injuries: How temperature measurement affects outcomes," SEEDS Working Papers 0225, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Mar 2025.
    12. Klauber, Hannah & Koch, Nicolas & Pestel, Nico, 2025. "The Immediate and Lasting Effects of Heat Waves On Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 18176, IZA Network @ LISER.
    13. George Halkos & Panagiotis Stavros Aslanidis & Conrad Landis & Lydia Papadaki & Phoebe Koundouri, 2024. "A review on primary and cascading hazards by exploring individuals' willingness-to-pay for urban sustainability policies," DEOS Working Papers 2415, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    14. Belloc, Ignacio & Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2025. "Extreme temperatures: Gender differences in well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    15. Yu Zhang & Yuta Uchiyama & Masayuki Sato, 2025. "Combined effects of urban blue–green spaces on the thermal environment: a case study of Kobe, Japan," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 59-88, February.
    16. Mario Lackner & Hendrik Sonnabend, 2024. "When performance melts away: Heat causes mental errors in high-stakes competitions," Economics working papers 2024-11, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.

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