New York City summers are often hot and uncomfortable, but in recent years, heatwaves have become more common and temperatures more intense. Mayor Eric Adams recently warned residents to exercise caution during a heatwave and noted that every year about 350 New Yorker die from heat-related causes.
Hot weather is also implicated in many workplace injuries. According to a study by the New York State Insurance Fund, workers’ compensation claims jump when temperatures rise. Sifting through the data from nearly 100,000 workers’ compensation cases from 2017-2021, researchers found that reports of workplace injuries become 45% more likely on days when the National Weather Service issued warnings about excessive heat.
Reports were especially common on days when the temperatures were over 90 degrees. What’s more, these injuries were more serious than on average days, requiring more expensive medical care.
Not just for people who work outside
In another study, the Workers Compensation Research Institute reviewed claims across 24 states and found that injuries were 14% more likely in the construction industry when temperatures reached 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit as compared to more comfortable temperatures. When temperatures rose past 95 degrees, the chance of construction injuries rose even higher.
But interestingly, the risks that come with hot weather aren’t limited to construction and other occupations in which people work outside. The New York study found that workers’ compensation claims rose on hot days across all industries. While some occupations put workers more at risk of heatstroke on hot days, in fact many types of accidents become more common on hot days.
One reason for this may be that stifling heat can make it harder for workers to concentrate on safety.
Global warming is making the problem worse
Climate scientists have found that human-caused global warming is intensifying all kinds of weather patterns, including heatwaves. They expect that summers will only get hotter in the coming years, leading to more heat-related injuries at work and elsewhere.
The New York State Insurance Fund has started a program to encourage health care providers to respond to the threats of global warming by reducing their carbon emissions and to plan for extreme weather.
Workers’ compensation
One of the key concepts behind workers’ compensation is that the system is not fault-based. Injured workers do not have to prove that their employers were negligent or did anything wrong; so long as the injury happened during the course of their employment, they should be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits to cover their medical care and, in some cases, to help compensate them for lost wages.
This no-fault approach helps make it possible for workers to make claims based on weather-related illness and injury.
However, if hot weather is becoming more frequent and more intense, and related injuries are becoming more common, we may start seeing insurers fight against these claims. This could make it even more important for injured workers to seek out advice from experienced professionals.