A recent report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers sketched out how employees could be affected as temperatures rise. "Thermal comfort is very important in a workplace and if it is not achieved, morale, productivity, health and safety will all likely deteriorate," the analysis said.
According to those involved in the report's production, warmer working environments can create some very challenging scenarios indeed.
"There's a whole range of things in addition to just people becoming fatigued and exhausted and not being able to focus on the industrial tasks they're trying to undertake," Tim Fox, its lead author, told CNBC.
That includes "increased potential for accidents, because people's cognitive thinking isn't as sharp as it would normally be."
Issues relating to productivity also apply to equipment, facilities and buildings, Fox said. "Overheating ultimately results in economic productivity loss, [it] impacts on national and international economics."
As the world gets hotter, millions of workers face up to the challenge of heat stress and productivity losses (msn.com) b.