HONG KONG (SE): This year the world experienced its hottest July on record, and climate change has increased the risk of health problems for outdoor workers. Greenpeace and the Hong Kong Catholic Commission for Labour Affairs conducted a survey in August to examine the impact of hot weather on their health. The findings were released during a press conference at the office of Greenpeace, San Po Kong, on September 6.
It was noted that over 60 per cent of those interviewed, including construction workers and street cleaners, suffered heat stroke at work, despite the Hong Kong government implementing of a three-tier heat stress warning system since May 15.
Approximately 70 construction workers and 50 contract cleaners were interviewed for the survey. More than half reported experiencing symptoms of heatstroke at least once a week.
In over 40 per cent of the cases, they were not even allowed additional rest following the implementation of the government guidelines. The survey also showed that workers who were not given rest experienced more symptoms of heat illness. Around 15 per cent of workers experienced at least one symptom of heat-related illness per day if they did not rest during a heat alert.
Samuel Wong Kit-yip, policy research officer of the commission, said the guidelines have not fully taken into account actual working conditions and the nature of various trades and industries, and the classification of work types is too complicated for employers and employees to comply with. “It is thus difficult for them to follow, so outdoor workers working in hot weather are still lacking in occupational safety and security protection,” he said.
Before the survey was done, he had told the Sunday Examiner in an interview about the difficulties cleaning workers encountered in following the government guidelines. For example, they may not know when alerts are issued as it is inconvenient for them to periodically check the news updates on their phones [Sunday Examiner, August 27].
Greenpeace and the Hong Kong Catholic Commission for Labour Affairs urged the government to formulate measures to prevent heatstroke by May next year after the actual situation of various trades and industries into account. In the long run, heatstrokes and heat-related illnesses at work must be considered compensable occupational diseases.
