Building resilience to the health impacts of climate and extreme weather
Our new research report How climate and extreme weather are impacting workplace health in Canada: creating a climate-resilient workforce with group benefits, conducted in partnership with Environics Research, addresses the effects of climate and extreme weather events on workplace health. The report also shows how group benefits plans are ideally positioned to be the foundation of climate-related health resilience in your organization.
Key insights:
- Over 50% of employees say their physical health and their mental health has been affected by climate and extreme weather.
- Employees living with chronic health conditions, women, and young generations face increased vulnerability to climate-related health effects.
- 60% of employers agree that climate-related effects on employee health are a risk to their organization.
- 25% of employers have a plan or strategy to mitigate both immediate and future climate-related health effects on their workforce.
Support employee health and well-being
Climate and extreme weather pose ongoing challenges to workplace health and productivity. Employers can support employee health and well-being by:
- reading the full research report to gain a better understanding of the effects on workplace health and productivity
- raising employee awareness about how group benefits plans can address climate-related health effects
- strengthening their communication with climate-focused health messages to employees
- enhancing employee benefits, providing adequate coverage for those most at risk
- ensuring employees can access health care amid climate-related emergencies.
Taking these proactive steps may increase employees' ability to be more resilient to the potential effects of climate and severe weather events.
Find the latest group benefits research and information on our updated Health Insights page.
Questions? We’re here to help.
Please contact your Sun Life Group Benefits representative.