Heat… A Problem Beyond Infrastructure

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Sep 1
2 min read

In countries with warm climates, all industrial developments face the same silent enemy: heat. This factor not only affects infrastructure—reducing material durability and shortening the lifespan of stored products—but it also drives energy consumption upward. Yet there’s an even more critical aspect that is often overlooked, and that’s exactly what we’ll break down in this article: people.

It makes sense to talk about heat because, after all, who else complains about it? Not the forklifts, not the boxes, not the racks. Only people can express the discomfort of working in extreme conditions. But reducing it to “discomfort” would minimize a problem that directly impacts productivity, profitability, and worker health.

That’s why we’ll divide the consequences into two main areas:

Productivity and profitability
Occupational health and safety

1. Productivity and Profitability

A study conducted in a Chinese factory in 2018 analyzed the relationship between productivity and climatic conditions (Cai, Lu & Wang, 2018). The findings were striking:

With a heat index above 25 °C, productivity begins to drop.
At 35 °C, productivity is reduced by 8.5%.
This translates into losses of USD $123.70 per worker.
Annually, the average loss was USD $1,236.00 per worker.
In a plant with 33 workers, the loss totaled USD $46,725.00 per year.

The equation is clear: heat = productivity loss = profitability loss.

Heat stress doesn’t just create discomfort—it’s costing industries thousands, even millions of dollars every year. Investing in heat mitigation solutions shouldn’t be seen as a “comfort expense,” but as a strategic investment to safeguard profitability in the short, medium, and long term. And no, installing a few fans isn’t enough… but that’s a topic for another blog.

2. Occupational Health and Safety

Dehydration, urinary tract infections, chronic and even terminal kidney disease are among the most common consequences of heat stress in workers. It may sound alarmist, but the data speaks for itself: according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 26 million people worldwide suffer from chronic kidney disease linked to occupational heat stress, particularly in warm-climate countries (ILO, 2019).

This is a serious issue, because it touches the quality of life of the very people who keep production lines moving and industries running. Fortunately, more and more business leaders are becoming aware—CEOs who care not only about their company’s environmental footprint, but also about the human footprint they leave on their teams.

Conclusion

This isn’t simply about “heat.” We’re facing a socio-economic issue that impacts both productivity and worker health. The losses are measured in dollars… and in lives.