This study on the relationship between summer temperatures and worker health in five Canadian provinces has produced new knowledge that can guide decision-makers and prevention stakeholders. Drawing on workers’ compensation claims data from Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as meteorological data, the study revealed that:
- For every 1°C increase in the daily maximum summer temperature for the 2001-2016 period, there was a 28% to 51% increase in the daily number of accepted heat illness claims (e.g. edema, syncope, exhaustion, sunstroke/heatstroke), depending on the province and the heat exposure indicator used; applied to the province of Quebec, a 34% increase (model based on Tmax) represents seven additional accepted heat illness claims over the five summer months of each year of the 2001-2016 period.
- No sex- or age-based disparities were observed in relation to the heat illness risk examined. In Quebec and Alberta, where…