Rising Temperatures and Its Impacts on Thermal Comfort and Productivity—A Case Study from Select Workplaces in Southern India

Background: Exposure to extreme heat due to climate change can result in occupational illnesses, thermal discomfort, productivity losses, as well as increasing the risk of injury. With this background, the present study aims to fill this gap by assessing three occupational settings with different heat levels to find the association between the heat exposures related to worker’s perception of indoor thermal comfort and the Productivity Loss (PL). Methodology: A cross-sectional study for 856 workers from [high (n = 507), medium (n = 219), and low-process heat (n = 130)] workplaces located in Southern India was done. We evaluated the indoor heat profile, the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index, using a portable WBGT monitor. We recorded workers’ perceived thermal comfort using a questionnaire from The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers ( ASHRAE Standard Project Committee in Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Airconditioning Engineers, Inc., [1]) and the PL using a validated high occupational temperature health and productivity suppression (HOTHAPS) questionnaire. Results: The average WBGT in high, medium, and low-process heat industries was 29.6 °C ± 3.7, 27.8 °C ± 1.7, and 27.1 °C ± 2.3. Exposure to heat above the safe limit was 64% (n = 548), with a maximum of 71% (n = 362) in the high-process heat industry. Perception of thermal discomfort was by 90%, 64%, and 48% in high, medium, and low-process heat industries, respectively, and maximum perception on PL was by workers in medium-heat workplace (36%). A significant association between perceived PL and heat exposure was reported among the high and medium process workers, and higher risk of thermal discomfort (OR = 26.9, CI-10.97–68.6) was among the medium-process heat exposed workers. Conclusion: A passive cooling interventions are needed to avert health and productivity risks and manage increasing energy needs to cool the workplaces in the changing climate scenario.