Rising temperatures and humidity are affecting workers' health and disrupting productivity as much as 10 per cent in garment factories supplying apparels to brands like Primark, D-Mart, Target, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Tommy Hilfiger, and NEXT, according to a report released on Tuesday by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
The report, "Too Hot to Ignore: Extreme Heat in Garment Supply Chains", is based on visits to 10 garment factories across Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
The findings come after the International Labour Organization (ILO) stated that 70 per cent of the global working population, 2.41 billion workers, are likely to be exposed to extreme heat every year. This leads to 23 million non-fatal injuries and 19,000 deaths annually.
India, the world's sixth-largest garment exporter, is already seeing the economic impact of rising temperatures. The report estimates that heat-related expenses are costing workers ?500-1,000 a month, a major portion of the average monthly wage of ?11,500-18,000. Suppliers said they would be willing to invest more in heat-mitigation measures if brands required such steps, provided technical support, or shared the costs.
It said that brands recognise the risk but lack the data to manage it. While 94.1 per cent of surveyed apparel and footwear brands said extreme heat poses a moderate or significant risk to production, only 35.3 per cent require suppliers to measure temperature or humidity inside production areas, and none collect such data continuously.
"Managers across the nine operating factories visited reported productivity reductions of approximately 3 per cent to 10 per cent and absenteeism increases of approximately 2 per cent to 5 per cent during peak summer months," it said.
The report also suggested that brands should look at more investments in these areas. It calls on global apparel brands and buyers to move beyond voluntary guidance and treat extreme heat as a measurable workplace safety and supply chain risk.
"Factories are losing output, quality is suffering, and delivery timelines are at risk, not as a future scenario, but right now. Brands that require heat monitoring, adjust purchasing practices, and share the cost of adaptation will build more resilient supply chains," said Lucy Siers, senior research scientist, global labour, at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
At a knitwear factory in Faridabad, grid outages and generator overloads during an April 2024 heatwave forced the temporary closure of one of three production floors, it added.
The report found that indoor temperatures in some dyeing and processing units reached 43-45 degrees Celsius during peak summer months, up to 5 degrees Celsius higher than already dangerous outdoor temperatures. Workers reported dizziness, headaches, dehydration, fainting, heat rashes, kidney and urinary problems, as well as higher medical expenses and wage losses due to heat-related absences.
Medical-room data from three factories showed predictable seasonal spikes in health complaints during local peak heat periods. Practical fixes work, but suppliers are financing them alone.
"Brands that source from heat-exposed regions have both a business interest and a responsibility to act," said Michael Posner, Director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
"The answer is not to walk away from these sourcing regions and leave workers and suppliers behind. It is to invest in making them more resilient by requiring heat monitoring, setting clear safety standards, building flexibility into purchasing practices when heat disrupts production, and sharing the cost of cooling and ventilation upgrades."
