While the benefits of renewable energy on the health of our planet and its inhabitants are widely known at this point, emerging research is continuing to show the benefits of alternative energy sources and the impact they can have on workplace safety.
One study that examined the full life-cycle of energy production found that a shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy could potentially avoid an average of 1,300 worker deaths and immensely improve health and safety for a number of up to 700,000 workers in the United States alone.
Health-Related Perks of Jobs in Renewable Energy
If it has been already proven that all the forms of renewable energy available today in the planet are healthier for the environment and also for people, so we can assume that the environment in which they work to manufacture the clean technology is also healthier for the workers.
Studies have shown that employees involved in the solar industry have healthier workplaces compared to other sectors in the manufacturing industry, simply because they are not exposed to the toxic compounds that coal mines or gas plants release on a daily basis (not to mention the workers in the nuclear energy sector).
On top of that, they are not dealing with large and heavy equipment that can lead to an accident on a worksite.
This type of equipment (large and heavy) led to 26,653 fatalities in fossil fuel energy systems between the years 1874 and 2014.
These risks seem to be particularly lessened in the wind and solar energy sectors, mostly due to the fact that the dangerous energy extraction phase in traditional fossil fuel industries is minimized or completely eliminated in the case of the wind and solar energy production.
Cleaner Energy Equals More Jobs
Clean energy is a pretty new sector that can actually improve the safety at the workplace, and can also shift the focus to improve the production and innovation in the renewable energy sector, which will increase the amount of jobs available in the green industry and will also reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released daily on the planet.
As of 2017, the U.S. solar industry employed more people in its sector than the U.S. fossil fuel industry involved in electricity generation.
Even by removing the solar jobs involved in construction and installation (which accounts for about 37% of the total), you would still have about 45 times more jobs per unit of energy created in the green energy sector compared to the number of jobs produced by the fossil fuel sector, which also involves employees for electricity generation.
Looking Towards the Green Future
Due to the workplace safety, the increased security of the economy, and a large reduction of the costs required to produce renewable energy, there is no doubt that the sector will continue to grow in coming years.
Conclusion
As countries continue to innovate and improve the technology used to produce alternative energy, workplace safety will also continue to improve and employees and employers alike will become a happier and healthier workforce.
