Heat-Resilient Workforce: Unveiling the Relationships Between Heat-related Knowledge, Risk Perception, and Precautionary Behavior in Indonesian Pine Forest Workers

Abstract

Behavioral changes play a crucial role in protecting the occupational health of outdoor workers, particularly those engaged in physically demanding jobs like forestry, against the adverse effects of rising temperatures–a clear consequence of climate change. Working in an environment with increasing temperature exposure heightens the risk of health disorders from both physiological and psychological perspectives, ultimately resulting in decreased work productivity. Numerous studies emphasize the positive correlation between behavior and knowledge. However, other variables that require thorough exploration are risk perception and work experience. Understanding the interplay among these four variables–behavior, knowledge, risk perception, and work experience–is crucial for formulating precise strategies to foster more cautious behavioral changes. This cross-sectional study, executed through a survey involving 50 pine tappers in the pine forest area of Bogor, Indonesia, utilizes Structural Equation Modelling with the Partial Least Squares approach. The research aims to explore the relationships between heat-related knowledge, risk perception, precautionary behavior, and work experience among outdoor workers, particularly pine oleoresin tappers. Through semi-structured interviews, insight into how to improve the workers’ precautionary behavior against the impacts of climate are investigated. The analysis uncovers positive connections between knowledge-risk perception, knowledge-precautionary behavior, and risk-perception-precautionary behavior. Additionally, the study underscores the mediating role of the dread risk factor (one element of risk perception) in shaping workers’ precautionary behavior. Another finding is that, with increasing work experience, pine tappers tend to underestimate risks, thereby diminishing their inclination toward precautionary behavior. These findings offer valuable guidance for enhancing the precautionary behavior of outdoor workers who confront the challenges of rising temperatures.