The article “Evaluation of the Impact of Ambient Temperatures on Occupational Injuries in Spain,” published in Environmental Health Perspectives, has been named the Best Original Epidemiology Article of 2018 by the Spanish Society of Epidemiology. The award comes with a cash prize of €1,000.

The study was the result of collaboration between the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by ”la Caixa”, and the Centre for Research in Occupational Health (CiSAL), a mixed research group affiliated with UPF and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute. The authors of the study include the ISGlobal researchers Xavier Basagaña, Jordi Sunyer and Èrica Martínez-Solanas and the CiSAL researchers María López-Ruiz and Fernando G. Benavides.

The article was selected for its scientific quality, originality and impact on public health. During the study, researchers compiled the daily number of occupational injuries that caused at least one day of leave for the years 1994-2013 and daily maximum temperatures for the same period. Using these data, they calculated the number of injuries attributable to cold and heat, the corresponding workdays lost, and the resulting economic impact.

The findings suggest that extreme ambient temperatures increase the risk of occupational injuries , with substantial health and economic costs for the country as a whole. “The findings of this study underscore the need for public health interventions to protect workers in the context of climate change,” commented Martínez-Solanas, the lead author of the study.