Effects of occupational heat exposure on female brick workers in West Bengal, India

BACKGROUND: Manual brick-manufacturing units in India engage a large number of female workers on a daily-wage basis for a period of 8 months per year. There are two groups of female workers in the brickfields: the brick molders and the brick carriers. These brickfields are mostly unorganized, and the workers are exposed to extreme conditions such as very high seasonal heat. The present trend of increasing temperatures, as a result of global warming and climate change, will put an additional burden on them. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the effect of workplace heat exposure on the well-being, physiological load, and productivity of female brickfield workers in India. DESIGN: A questionnaire study (n=120), environmental temperature, and weekly work productivity analyses were evaluated for 8 months in the brickfields. Cardiac strain and walking speed (subset, n=40) were also studied and compared in hotter and colder days amongst the female brickfield workers. RESULTS: The subjects experience summer for about 5 months with additional heat stress radiating from the brick kiln. The weekly productivity data show a linear decline in productivity with increased maximum air temperature above 34.9°C. The cardiac parameters (peak heart rate (HRp), net cardiac cost (NCC), relative cardiac cost (RCC), and recovery heart rates) were significantly higher on hotter days (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGTout) index: 26.9°C to 30.74°C) than on cooler days (WBGTout index: 16.12°C to 19.37°C) for the brick molders; however, this is not the case for the brick carriers. As the brick carriers adapt to hotter days by decreasing their walking speed, their productivity decreases. CONCLUSION: We conclude that high heat exposure in brickfields during summer caused physiological strain in both categories of female brickfield workers. A coping strategy employed by the brick carriers was to reduce their walking speed and thus lose part of their earnings. The lost productivity for every degree rise in temperature is about 2% in the brickfields. This reduction will be exacerbated by climate change and may undermine the quality of life of female brickfield workers.