HONG KONG (SE): In his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis pointed out that the gravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest. There has been an increase in the number of very hot days each year, which has caused various degrees of heat-related illness among outdoor workers.
To protect employees from heatstroke, the Hong Kong government implemented a three-tier heat stress warning system on May 15. According to workers contacted by the Hong Kong Catholic Commission for Labour Affairs, they encountered a number of difficulties implementing the warning system over the past quarter.
The Labour Department’s warning system consists of amber, red or black alerts, advising of outdoor risks to health for at least an hour. Employers have to give outdoor workers time to rest accordingly. Under an amber alert, for example, those with a moderate physical workload are required to rest for 15 minutes every hour, while those with a heavy physical workload should rest for 30 minutes every hour.
Policy research officer of the commission, Samuel Wong Kit-yip, said that even though the guideline define the criteria for classifying outdoor physical tasks, employees still have difficulty knowing what group they belong to. In his opinion, an employer’s interpretation of the criteria may differ from that of an employee.
“Many workers believe they should be categorised as workers with heavy workloads, but others disagree,” he said. He continued, “Due to the difficulties in defining who is performing heavy duties and who is not, workers do not know how long they should rest.”
It may be inconvenient for employees to periodically check the news update on their phones since their supervisors may complain that they are being lazy or taking unnecessary breaks. The supervisor may find it difficult to call workers one by one to inform them of a warning signal that may change after an hour
Secondly, workers questioned whether the mechanism for reducing or increasing rest time is reasonable. The guideline states that employers may be able to reduce the rest time if they can provide a facility with proper shading or ventilation, such as a shelter or a portable fan. Yet Wong said employers often fail to ensure that such devices are effective, adding risks to the system. “Portable fans, for example, can run continuously for two hours after being charged, but workers are expected to work for eight hours,” Wong explained.
It is also difficult for workers to know when heat alerts are issued, which is the reason why heat prevention measures are often neglected. “It may be inconvenient for employees to periodically check the news update on their phones since their supervisors may complain that they are being lazy or taking unnecessary breaks. The supervisor may find it difficult to call workers one by one to inform them of a warning signal that may change after an hour,” he stated.
In addition, Wong noted that there are many tasks with deadlines or machines that remain on so that workers cannot stop working even in the event of a heat alert.
The commission urged the Labour Department and the Hong Kong Observatory to conduct a joint study or survey on heat index according to the outdoor workplaces of different types of occupations in order to improve the system.
It also appealed to the Labour Department to contact workers of different job types to get an understanding of their duties and actual working environments so as to continuously assess the intensity of different job types and evaluate the classification of the amount of labour involved.
The commission also recommended that the government stipulate specific requirements for employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance in order to prevent heat stroke and heat-related illnesses.
It pointed out that, in order for workers and their dependents to receive the compensation they are entitled to, heatstroke and heat-related illnesses at work must be included in the scope of compensable occupational diseases.
