Energy efficiency improvements can enhance working environments and worker health. By reducing waste heat, air pollutants and other process inefficiencies, they lower health and safety risks while improving comfort and working conditions.

In manufacturing, these effects can be direct. For example, in electronics manufacturing, conventional soldering requires thermal pre-heating cycles that exposes workers to high ambient heat as well as safety risks. Replacing this with induction heating enables localised heating of the material, reducing energy demand by around 70% while eliminating heat stress and safety hazards for workers.

Similar benefits are observed in other industrial settings. For example, in apparel manufacturing in India, replacing fluorescent lighting with LEDs reduced energy use by around 85% and lowered indoor temperatures by up to 2.4 °C, reducing heat stress and improving worker productivity, particularly during hotter periods.

These effects are also evident in office buildings, where much of the workforce is concentrated. Improved energy efficiency is often associated with better thermal comfort and indoor air quality. On average, employees require between two and three fewer sick days per year following such interventions. At the same time, healthier and more comfortable working environments have been shown to improve productivity. Together, these effects amount to the equivalent of nearly eight additional productive working days per employee, delivering additional output from labour costs that are already incurred.

Air pollution is a major risk to health, with an estimated 6.7 million premature deaths every year. In industrial settings, emissions from fossil fuel combustion for process heat are a key source of local air pollution. As a result, the way energy is produced and used in production has direct implications for the health of workers and surrounding communities. These effects are predominantly linked to outdoor air pollution, although some industrial processes can also affect indoor air quality through poor maintenance or fuel handling.

Energy efficiency plays a central role in reducing these health risks. By lowering overall energy demand and enabling the adoption of cleaner technologies, efficiency measures can significantly reduce emissions of local air pollutants. This is particularly important for the 70% of manufacturing processes that rely on low- and medium-temperature heat, for which more efficient and cleaner alternatives are available.

Electrified heat technologies, including industrial heat pumps, can lead to a sharp decline in local emissions while delivering higher levels of efficiency. Although emissions may still occur upstream in electricity generation, these technologies reduce health risks in the workplace by lowering local pollutant exposure. This helps reduce sick leave, healthcare costs and productivity losses, strengthening business performance and reputation in local communities.