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Find More Information @ April 2019 Conference Series LLC Ltd 28
6th World Congress on
Climate Change and Global Warming
April 24-25, 2019 | Vancouver, Canada
ACCEPTED ABSTRACT JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCE & CLIMATIC CHANGE, 2019 VOLUME 10 | DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C1-057
Climate change and
workers: Overview of the
psychosocial impacts of
extreme weather events
and determination of
public health priority
research topics for
Quebec (Canada)
Ariane Adam Poupart, Leyla Deger, Maxime
Boivin, Louise Pouliot and Marie Pascale
Sassine
National Institute of Public Health
of Quebec, Canada
Statement of the Problem: The
impacts of climate change (CC)
on workers are often discussed
in terms of the physical health
effects that some workers may
experience when exposed to
hazards such as heat waves,
zoonoses and extreme weather
events (EWE). To date, the
scientific community has focused
very little on the psychological
impacts of CC on workers.
The presentation will focus on
a research conducted in the
province of Quebec (Canada),
which aimed at providing
an overview of the negative
psychosocial impacts on workers
of four EWE that will increase
in the context of CC in Quebec
(heat waves, floods, storms
and forest fires) and identifying
public health priority research
topics.
Methodology: A review of the
literature published between
2007 and 2017 was conducted.
The findings of this review
were presented during two
workshops involving various
experts and stakeholders.
During the workshops, the
participants were invited
to validate the information
retrieved from the literature
review and to share their needs
for knowledge. Research topics
were determined based on the
workshop’s discussions and
priorities were established by
means of consultation with
public health experts.
Findings: The review identified
that the studied EWE may
cause psychological impacts
on workers such as exhaustion,
fatigue, stress and anxiety. These
impacts can vary according
to risk and protective factors
and were mainly observed
among front line workers
(e.g. first responders, social
workers) and farmers. Twenty-
one research priorities were
identified during the workshops
and the consultation with the
public health experts resulted
in identifying the acquisition
of knowledge related to the
impacts of floods on front-line
workers as a priority research
topic for Quebec.
Conclusion: This research is
among the first studies on
this emerging topic and our
approach may be useful to help
prioritize research activities in
other countries. Adam Poupart
A, Labreche F, Smargiassi A,
Duguay P, Busque M A, Gagne C,
Rintamak H, Kjellstrom T, Zayed J.
Climate change and occupational
health and safety in a temperate
climate: Potential impacts and
research priorities in Quebec,
Canada Industrial health.