Cold comfort for Chinese workers in heatwave crisis

The afternoon sun blazed down in Beijing, with breezes blowing waves of heat as the mercury climbed past 32C. Food delivery driver Zhang Ye, 28, sat on his electric bike in a sweat-drenched short-sleeved shirt, scrolling through Douyin, the Chinese TikTok. 

Nearby, a food court and bank are both air-conditioned, but he sits by the roadside in the shade of a tree, awaiting his next order.

In Beijing alone there are over 50,000 food delivery drivers like Zhang Ye working outdoors under this new model of employment. Across China, the number already exceeds 10 million.

Many other workers are also exposed to high temperatures in Chinese cities. These include 43 million construction workers, 5 million couriers, and 5 million sanitation workers and bike-share dispatchers. They are all seriously tested every summer.

By 2018, nearly 100 million people were already engaged in high-temperature outdoor labour, according to a survey published in Chinese Workers. But experts believe the health risks faced during heatwaves are still receiving too little attention.

“The past two years have been so hot that I get headaches. I drink some water and rest for a few minutes if I have a headache landscape gardener Gao Xiang, who always keeps a one-liter bottle in his tool cart, said.

Extreme heatwaves

Since 2022, global temperature records have been constantly broken, with 2023 and 2024 “the hottest years” in history. More frequent and extreme heatwaves are becoming major threats to public health.

Working in temperatures exceeding 35C creates occupational health risks, a United Nations Development Program report found. 

“High temperatures can affect workers’ reaction speed and coordination, thereby reducing productivity or even increasing the chance of work-related injuries,” Zhao Mengzhen, at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told Dialogue Earth.

She was one of the authors of the 2024 Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change in China.

Lu Hui, a doctor in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, said that among the patients he sees every summer, those sent for emergency treatment due to heat exhaustion are predominantly outdoor laborers.

They include construction workers, food delivery drivers, and farmers. Muscle exertion creates heat, which combines with high ambient temperatures to increase health risks. Some older workers also have underlying health issues, making them particularly vulnerable.

The Lancet report mentioned that potential work hours lost due to heat stress in China increased by more than 24% in 2023. It reached 36.9 billion hours, which is equivalent to the average income of 12.6 million people. 

This potential loss is most prominent in southern, eastern and central China, with Guangdong and Henan provinces having the highest share. 

Protective measures

At the same time, losses are increasing rapidly even in the relatively cool northern regions, highlighting the urgency of implementing protective measures.

Heating and cooling technician Wang Chengyi’s main job is to install air-conditioning systems in semi-indoor environments. What left the deepest impression on him was working at a construction site in Hangzhou in the summer of 2024.

Temperatures exceeded 40C. “I would sweat even when standing still. My clothes would be soaked if I moved,” he told Dialogue Earth.

In July 2022, construction worker Wang Jianlu worked continuously in the Xi’an heat for nine hours before succumbing to heat stroke. The next summer, a 48-year-old tour guide died of heat stroke around the Summer Palace in Beijing. 

Cases of outdoor workers dying due to extreme heat have regularly been reported in the media since 2022.

“Heat stroke and heat cramps are indicative of severe heat exhaustion. Without timely intervention, progression from the initial signs of heat exhaustion to severe illness can be rapid,” doctor Lu Hui told Dialogue Earth. 

The Lancet report showed that in 2023 that the average number of days in which people in China were exposed to heatwaves reached 16.

This was more than three times the historical average between 1986 to 2005. From 2019 to 2023, China’s heat-related deaths were 1.9 times higher than the historical average. 

Even in the northern regions, at higher latitudes, the number of heat-related deaths also increased significantly. By the 2060s, they could reach up to 38,000 every year.

To help outdoor workers better adapt to climate change globally, the International Labour Organization adopted guidelines in 2015. 

Outdoor workers

These proposed measures such as strengthening assessment of occupational safety and health risks, sharing weather alerts, and improving work clothing and equipment.

In 2012, the Chinese government published the Administrative Measures for Heatstroke Prevention and Cooling, which proposed a series of protective measures, as well as “heat allowance.”

But due to the flexible employment of outdoor workers, it is often difficult for heat allowances and personal-protective equipment to reach individuals. Additionally, most outdoor workers face financial pressure, often choosing to extend their working hours. 

Yu Kun, a sociologist based in Zhengzhou, experienced delivery work first-hand in the summer of 2024, and conducted in-depth interviews with many delivery drivers. 

To her surprise, she discovered they were reluctant to use service stations or cool off in places like banks and subway stations.

“Many drivers feel that the space on their electric bikes is the only place that belongs to them,” Yu Kun said, adding that another reason was their tight delivery schedules.

There are different reasons for this widespread lack of awareness. Academic Zhao’s team had previously conducted a climate change adaptation survey. 

It found that people living in cooler regions often believed there was no need to worry about the threat of heatwaves. Meanwhile, those in hotter regions believed they were already accustomed to high temperatures.

“Climate change is a long-term challenge. Regions which are cool now may experience heatwaves in the future, while currently hot regions may become unbearable,” Zhao said. 

“Recommendations for outdoor workers should be more precise, and targeted at the platforms they regularly engage with,” she noted.

Health impact

Earlier this month, the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention issued China’s first nationwide high-temperature health-risk warning. 

But Zhao has also suggested that research organizations should collaborate with government departments in conducting surveys and studies to further clarify the impact of high temperatures on productivity, as well as impacts on health. 

This would lay the foundation for applying and promoting protective measures. “In adapting to extreme weather, there must be close collaboration between government, business, research and the media,” she concluded.

Note: Zhang Ye, Gao Xiang and Wang Chengyi are pseudonyms.

Han Qing is a former environmental journalist for Jiemian and Beijing News, with a focus on climate and biodiversity.

This edited article was originally published on Dialogue Earth under the Creative Commons BY NC ND licence. Read the original here.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of China Factor.