Humidity and work-related accidents

Analyzing almost 2.3 million work-related injuries in Italy, we estimate that higher humidity levels significantly increase the number of workplace accidents. Using dew point temperature to capture the moisture content of the atmosphere, our results confirm that a 1 °C increase in the dew point temperature raises the number of accidents by 0.7%. Allowing for non-linear effects of humidity, we uncover a U-shaped relationship highlighting that both low and high humidity levels are associated with a higher number of accidents relative to intermediate conditions. • We investigate the effect of humidity on workplace accidents in Italy over the period 2014–2022. Humidity describes the amount of moisture in the atmosphere and is measured through dew point temperature. • We find that humidity significantly increases workplace accidents: a one-degree Celsius rise in dew point temperature leads to about a 0.7% increase in daily workplace injuries. • The non-linear relationship between dew point temperature and accidents displays a U-shaped pattern with positive and statistically significant coefficients both at low and high levels of dew point temperature. • Nighttime humidity is also positively associated with workplace accidents.