Water Talks –– Safer Work in a Hot World: From Field to Lab and Back

Join us for a Water Talks presentation exploring the challenge of occupational heat stress, with a focus on its physiological basis, health consequences, and implications for worker safety and productivity. It synthesizes epidemiological and experimental evidence to explain how environmental heat exposure and metabolic workload interact to drive hyperthermia, heat illness, injury risk, and kidney strain, including acute kidney injury and progression toward chronic kidney disease. The talk also highlights high-risk occupations, evaluates evidence-based heat safety interventions (e.g., rest, shade, hydration), and demonstrates that well-implemented heat mitigation strategies can reduce health risks while delivering measurable economic and productivity benefits.

Zachary Schlader

Associate Professor

School of Public Health Bloomington, Indiana University