Asadul Islam does not know much about climate change or El Niño. But the 56-year-old rickshaw puller can clearly feel that the heat has become more intense than before. One day in June, he became dizzy and collapsed while riding his rickshaw in the capital’s Manipuripara. Asadul said, “This happens to many people now. The heat is getting much worse.”
There is no relief even after work. He shares a small, cramped room with several other rickshaw pullers. The room becomes hot during the day and does not cool down easily at night.
Asadul’s experience is not an isolated one. A new study has found that, on average, an outdoor worker loses 23.7 working days a year because of extreme heat, while an indoor worker loses 13.5 working days. Losses from reduced working days and heat-related health problems amount to Tk 770 billion annually.
Alongside the survey, researchers observed workers’ working and resting hours and conducted group discussions, interviews and family case studies. A panel of three physicians reviewed the health-related findings.
The study was jointly conducted by the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP). Titled Too Hot to Work, Too Poor to Rest, the study is scheduled to be published tomorrow, Wednesday.
For the study, researchers surveyed 175 informal-sector worker households in Dhaka. Of these, 122 households were engaged in outdoor work such as construction, roadwork and rickshaw driving, while 53 were involved in indoor work such as garment manufacturing.
Alongside the survey, researchers observed workers’ working and resting hours and conducted group discussions, interviews and family case studies. A panel of three physicians reviewed the health-related findings.
The researchers combined the study findings with data from the national labour force survey and regional heat-intensity measurements to estimate the nationwide losses.
Informal employment accounts for 84.9 per cent of total employment in Bangladesh. The incomes of these workers depend on their attendance and productivity. For them, stopping work or slowing down because of heat means losing income.
In the study, a construction worker named Dipak said, “Sometimes I can’t even breathe properly. The heat rising from the concrete makes me feel as if my skin is burning.”
Ritu Bharadwaj, director of IIED’s Climate Resilience, Finance and Loss and Damage division, told Prothom Alo by email that when workers slow down in the heat, they silently bear the losses themselves.
Income is falling, health risks are rising
An outdoor worker loses an average of $148.9 in wages each year, while an indoor worker loses $89.1. The living wage in Dhaka is Tk 30,459 per month. Yet outdoor worker households earn 41.4 per cent less than that amount, while indoor worker households fall short by 33.8 per cent. When heat-related income losses are taken into account, the gaps increase to 46.4 per cent and 36.8 per cent respectively.
Ritu Bharadwaj, director of IIED’s Climate Resilience, Finance and Loss and Damage division, told Prothom Alo by email that when workers slow down in the heat, they silently bear the losses themselves. They lose income, dip into their savings or take on debt. None of this is properly accounted for, and they receive no compensation.
The problem is not confined to the workplace. Some 66 per cent of indoor worker households and 54.1 per cent of outdoor worker households live under tin or asbestos roofs. Crowded rooms, inadequate ventilation and power outages disrupt workers’ ability to rest and sleep properly after work.
In the survey, 23.1 per cent of workers reported kidney problems. Researchers estimate that prolonged exposure to heat could leave around 6 per cent of the total workforce suffering from chronic kidney disease. Of every 20 workers who had experienced heatstroke, around 19 did not seek medical treatment.
A large proportion of patients at the KEPZ Specialised Hospital in Ashulia are workers. Its director, Rajib Hasan, told Prothom Alo that cases of diarrhoeal illness increase during hot weather.
At the 50-bed hospital, around 10 patients a day seek treatment for this problem alone. Poor hygiene and contaminated food and water are among the causes, but excessive heat is undoubtedly linked to the problem as well.
According to the researchers, heatwaves cause the loss of around 1.18 billion working days each year in Bangladesh through illness and reduced productivity. This results in approximately $4.1 billion in lost wages, equivalent to 0.91 per cent of GDP.
When the estimated productivity losses from chronic kidney disease are added, lost wages rise to $6.22 billion, equivalent to 1.38 per cent of GDP. At the current exchange rate, this amounts to around Tk 770 billion.
Economist and former adviser to the caretaker government Hossain Zillur Rahman told Prothom Alo, “There may be differences of opinion over the detailed calculations of the losses presented in the research report. But there is no disagreement that climate change has created major problems for a specific and important group of working people.
The increase in heatwaves has become a multidimensional problem, and the study has highlighted this accurately and importantly.”
Gaps in legal protection
A World Bank report published in 2025 said Bangladesh ranks second in the world in terms of exposure to high temperatures. The heat index in the capital Dhaka has increased by nearly 65 per cent more than the national average.
In 2024, 250 million working days were lost in Bangladesh because of heat-related physical and mental health problems.
Although Bangladesh’s labour laws and regulations contain general provisions on ventilation, drinking water and rest at workplaces, they do not specify a safe temperature threshold for working.
There are also no mandatory provisions for temperature-based breaks, and heat-related illness is not recognised as an occupational disease.
Syed Sultanuddin Ahmed, executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), a non-governmental organisation working on workers’ rights, told Prothom Alo that labour laws must be amended in response to rising temperatures.
The technical aspects of how heat should be measured must also be incorporated. The law should also require workers to take breaks at regular intervals. The study has highlighted this issue and drawn attention to a fundamental concern.
The researchers have recommended temperature-based cash assistance, health and food support, and the provision of water, electrolytes, shade and mandatory breaks at workplaces. They estimate that the proposed support package would cost around Tk 8.73 billion to Tk 16.54 billion a year—far less than the current economic losses.