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This Labour Day, let’s take a closer look at a growing threat that is reshaping the meaning of workplace safety: Extreme heat. Climate change is driving longer, more intense heatwaves, and for those who work outdoors, this isn’t just discomfort, it’s a daily occupational hazard. What responsibility do employers and policymakers have to protect workers from occupational heat stress? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks with Wan Amirah Wan Usamah, Research Associate at Khazanah Research Institute, where she authored a working paper titled ‘Navigating Public Health in a Hotter Malaysia’.
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00:10Hi, welcome back to Consider This. I'm Melissa Idris. Let's continue our discussion as to whether
00:16or not heat stress should be treated as a serious occupational hazard and this as we mark Labor Day
00:23on May 1st. Joining me now to continue the discussion is Wan Amira Wan-Usama who is Research Associate
00:30at Kazana Research Institute where she authored a working paper titled Navigating Public Health
00:37in a Hotter Malaysia. Amira, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining me today.
00:42Let's begin our conversation today. I'm just going to ask you to maybe based on your research and the
00:49work that you've been doing in this area, how well do you think heat stress is currently I guess
00:55integrated into Malaysia's public health and occupational safety policies? What's your
01:01assessment of where we are in with regards to heat stress? Thank you Melissa for having me and for
01:08your first question jumping right into it. I think Malaysia is really starting to look at heat as a
01:13growing concern and we can see especially earlier this year where we're really looking at heat a
01:19little bit more critically as rising temperatures were reaching very dangerous highs. We were getting
01:25heat waves notification and despite the almost certainty that temperatures will keep increasing in
01:31the coming century, I think we are kind of slightly going past our 1.5 degree Celsius target. Planning on
01:38how
01:38to manage the effects of warmer temperatures is still largely absent. I think Malaysia in its policies
01:43is a very much we are dealing with it as it comes rather than a more active and proactive approach.
01:49So we do have a lot of public health challenges brought on by climate change that the government
01:54is tackling and one of the ways is through the natural environment health action plan by the
02:00Ministry of Health and it does look into different elements of climate and heat related illnesses which does
02:05include heat stress but it does it still remains broad. In 2016 our Department of Safety Occupations
02:13DOSH released the guidelines for heat stress management at the workplace as a means to give
02:17employers a way to tackle rising temperatures within the workplace but it still it does treat heat as a
02:25workplace hazard but it doesn't really build that gap to see it as a systemic public health risk linked to
02:32climate change. Okay can you tell me more about that about those guidelines and what I guess policy tools are
02:39available to governments to protect workers if we were to address some of the gaps in the existing
02:46guidelines what what would that look like? Okay so I think we can start with where it is legally so
02:54we have the
02:55occupational safety and health act so OSHA and in it it stipulates that you know employers and self-employed
03:01persons have the responsibility to protect their employees to make sure that their working environment
03:07is safe and here we're treating heat and rising temperatures as a hazard towards their health towards
03:14workplace hazards as well so within the guideline it gives indicators of what temperatures you need to
03:21manage what are the steps that you need to take in order to cool down temperatures so for a lot
03:27of
03:28the things surrounding OSHA they use a metric called the wet bulb temperature so it looks not just about
03:33air temperature but it takes into account like humidity radiation so how exposed you are to the sun
03:38air velocity and all those can give you sort of micro climate so it might be 34 on your temperature
03:46app but
03:46in the workplace with the machines with the lack of airflow it might be higher it might be lower and
03:52this guideline is supposed to give means on how you try to regulate that indoor internal environment
03:58and I think the policy tools for the government here is really to give that heat exposure standards
04:03by saying okay at this level this is safe and you are allowed to work or if it is at
04:09this level
04:10um you are only allowed to work at a 50 capacity capacity and I think this is what the guideline
04:15does
04:16but it is a guideline and so the next step really is about the legal protections and enforcement and
04:23where workers are themselves empowered to take on actions on their own because I think when it comes to
04:28managing heat uh you can choose to take a break to either rest initiated area uh to take a hydration
04:35break and
04:36if it comes with repercussions from the employers then whether or not uh we have the legal protection
04:42for the workers as well so I think that's the two main ones when it comes to occupational
04:48safety and I think the others really how do we deal with self-employed persons uh especially when you
04:54think about you know e-hailing there's I think uh last year there was quite an interesting coverage where it
04:59was really hot so they took shelter in masks in malls in order to cool down but still remain in
05:04areas in
05:05order to get jobs and so we might want to think about uh having cooling infrastructure and green
05:10spaces for that as well as just early warning systems for those who are not in formal employment
05:15in order to take the proactive measures necessary essentially yeah that's that's so interesting thank
05:21you so much for bringing up the self-employed I think also they kind of fall into the vulnerable um
05:28category of workers exposed to to heat stress and extreme temperatures can you talk to me a little bit
05:34about that Amira help us think through what role employers should play um versus what roles the state
05:41should play government should play in terms of managing the heat risk I think when it comes to
05:49where the government plays a role and where the employees themselves plays a role I think when it
05:54comes to worker protection it's definitely a shared responsibility where the state comes in is really to just set that
06:00minimum
06:00legal standards what does it mean to keep the workers uh safe in Malaysia as temperatures rises and to enforce
06:08those uh those mandates and have inspections to make sure that it's followed through and there are some
06:15elements as well I think the met does give warnings for example when we're having heat waves and where
06:20regions are impacted but I think temperatures fluctuate throughout the day so having early warning systems and
06:26uh giving alerts I think those are all the things that the government can do but from the business
06:31perspective there really needs to be this shift to be putting people first and understanding the
06:36conditions of the workplace themselves and a decent work policy in the context of the employers is really
06:42prioritizing the safety well-being as well as productivity of workers while addressing the challenges posed by
06:48rising temperatures so the businesses themselves on one hand they can look towards the guideline and take the
06:55necessary actions needed but they can also look at other ways uh to help cool down the workers for
07:01example a cooling vest so it's kind of like a vest with gel packs to keep you cool looking at
07:06hydration
07:06policies making sure that there's not mandatory water breaks um really just monitoring where there might
07:12be heat spots inside the locations as well as providing cooling spaces for workers to take a break and retreat
07:19to
07:19and I think it's also important to note that like when it gets really hot productivity really does sink
07:25so I think it's also a benefit for the employers to really think about uh keeping it cool keeping
07:30it productive in the workplace while also keeping the workers safe I like that so some of those solutions
07:37maybe would you consider them um a quick win solutions or interventions and I also wonder what we can uh
07:45juxtapose that against are there ways since you you raised this in your report as well for us to think
07:51about um the infrastructure the built environment the design of our cities in uh reducing heat exposure
08:00yeah I think I can start with the quick wins first and I think when it comes to heat stress
08:05it's all about
08:06managing rising temperatures as it goes and I think when it looks at a lot of best practices not just
08:12with
08:12our own ministry's guidelines but looking at the international labor organization's guidelines
08:17it does look into taking ample hydration breaks making sure that there are shaded and cooling areas
08:23nearby and really just uh shifting the shift schedule pushing uh or like bringing forward really heavy
08:31labor earlier in the day taking breaks in the afternoon I think those are definitely some quick wins that can
08:37protect um the workers like maybe not have um like guards standing out uh throughout the entire day in an
08:47unshaded area I think that went quite viral at one like very recently so I think it's things like that
08:53that
08:54really shows one that you are caring and taking care of your employees but at the same time also
09:00showing that understanding of heat and the risk that it brings and taking the step to uh protect your
09:06workers uh when looking at what does it mean to change from an infrastructure perspective I think uh there
09:13are elements that we're doing with plan Malaysia where we want to look into more green spaces more
09:18cooling areas shaded walkways um but we also need to think about uh schools for example I think uh very
09:25earlier in the year we were talking about how it got too hot for the students to go to school
09:31right um we
09:33had work I mean school from home because it was too hot for the students to actually go to class
09:38because there
09:38just not enough cooling infrastructure to cater all those students in that space so I think like really
09:44looking at what are the current public infrastructures that are available and what the steps that we need
09:49to take to cooling I mean I'm not saying like we need to slap an aircon in every space but
09:54like a lot
09:55of the code when it comes to schools was all about ventilation and now we really need to add cooling
10:01into
10:01that element as well so I think that is definitely from infrastructure perspective okay so so that you've
10:08written this brilliant working paper it's been a couple of years it's been it's been out have you
10:14had what kind of engagement have you had in terms of the the work and the research and the findings
10:18that
10:19you've had you've laid out in the paper I'm I guess I'm wondering from your perspective what um a heat
10:25resilient Malaysia would look like if we were to look at rising temperatures and heat stress and heat
10:32exposure as a public health and as an occupational hazard issue for Malaysia I think when it comes to
10:41what a heat resilient Malaysia would look like is definitely really having this long-term heat health
10:46action plan and it should just encompasses not like it preparation response recovery strategies
10:52at national region and local levels and I think we realize this with Malaysia that you know some places
10:57get very hot while others are like kind of okay so knowing that there are regional variations and
11:02taking steps to measure that and we also need a bit more of a multi-tier approach so we need
11:07to have
11:07all aspects of heat management address so from immediate emergency responses so these are your direct
11:13heat illness treatment plans as well as more long-term urban planning and public health policies when it
11:20comes to dealing with that and so it could include things like early warning system public education
11:24campaigns heat wave response protocols and all of this can really just help into building this heat
11:31resilient Malaysia in terms of engagement I think where it got really picked up was in relation to
11:37maternal and children health on how heat impacts pregnant women and I think even within the RMK 13 there's
11:45this acknowledgement as well about heat waves and its impact to Malaysia not just from the labor perspective but
11:51just in relation to our larger productivity as a nation as well right that's wonderful to hear I'm
11:57really glad to hear that I want to thank you so much for being on the show with me today
12:01I really
12:01appreciate you sharing some of your work with us today I thank you for your time that was one Amira
12:07one Usama from Kazana Research Institute wrapping up this episode of consider this I'm Melissa Idris
12:13signing off for the evening thank you so much for watching good night
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