New York — A group of 11 large companies is teaming up to provide employers with research and tools to support their workers before, during and after extreme weather events.
Extreme Weather + Work, an initiative of the Health Action Alliance, includes free resources, guidance and peer-learning communities. Among the resources: the Climate Health Cost Forecaster and the Climate and Worker Health Scorecard – both open-access tools from consulting firm Mercer.
Last year, 23 weather disasters cost the U.S. economy more than $1 billion dollars each, an April 14 press release from the Health Action Alliance states. It adds that 75% of workers recently surveyed believe their employer isn’t ready for those disasters, and only 4% of organizations “have assessed the extreme weather risks their workers face.”
Along with Mercer, the initiative’s other founding members include Bristol Myers Squibb, CVS Health, Disney, Google, Sun Life and The Hartford.
“Extreme weather is becoming a persistent, year-round challenge for both employers and workers,” David Leathers, director of the initiative, said in the release. “Workers are affected whether they’re facing extreme heat on a construction site or trying to get to the office after a flood. Right now, there is a growing gap between the scale of this challenge and how prepared most companies are. That’s what Extreme Weather + Work is here to change.”
Dr. Sohini Stone, Google’s chief medical officer for global employee health, added that the initiative “brings together the right people to build the kind of practical, evidence-based playbook that no single employer could create alone.”
