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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2021-05-24 19:30
Last update date: 2021-05-24 19:30
The high temperature in Hong Kong for several days, the Observatory recorded as high as 36.1 degrees on Sunday (23rd), the highest temperature in May since record.
Under the scorching heat of multiple districts, the most suffering is the migrant workers who work outdoors, and the current work guidelines are not sufficient to ensure the safety of employees.
As hot weather may become more common in the future, the government must start with legislation and require employers to upgrade their employees' equipment to reduce health risks at work.
As early as March this year, the Observatory had predicted that the annual average temperature was higher than normal. As a result, the intense heat came early. The high temperature coupled with the heat island effect caused the temperature of Hong Kong to rise faster. However, the community did not step up its response to this.
The Centre for Health Protection and the Labour Department just issued press releases as a routine practice, urging employees to be careful to avoid heat stroke and employers to take effective preventive measures. Apart from cold information, they have not provided much resources.
The Labour Department has published a number of pamphlets that point out the support employers should provide to their employees to prevent heat stroke.
However, what is the actual work situation of the workers?
Consider restricting working hours when the law is out of date
Although the government currently requires employers to ensure the safety and health of employees through the "Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance" and its subsidiary legislation, and the Occupational Safety and Health Council has also issued work guidelines for individual industries, the relevant guidelines are not legally binding and may not be all employers. Will follow.
In addition, in the past, some labor unions pointed out that it is not easy to prove that heatstroke or the disease caused by it constitutes a work injury. In addition, workers have low bargaining power in Hong Kong, and often they can only swallow their breath.
Even though there have been cases of deaths after heatstroke during work in the past, the government only treats them as individual incidents and does not review the lack of work environment.
It is an indisputable fact that the hot working environment hurts the body, and in the face of increasingly hot weather, it is obvious that the current laws and regulations are not enough to truly protect the health of workers.
In some provinces and cities outside and in the mainland, it has begun to enforce restrictions on the working hours of employees and arrange heat-relief facilities based on selected indicators. For example, Guangdong Province has stipulated that the maximum temperature is between 35 and 37 degrees in 2012 and no outdoor employees can be arranged to work overtime at 37 to 39 degrees. Outdoor outdoor work should not exceed six hours, and the Hong Kong Federation of Labour and Trade Unions have also suggested using the Observatory’s Heat Index to set corresponding work arrangements.
The government should lead employers and employers to negotiate in this direction in the future, and stipulate that the measures are legally binding. Each industry can set higher standards on its own according to the special nature of their work.
Improve equipment to reduce the risk of heat stroke
In addition to revising laws and regulations, the government should also try to encourage all walks of life to prevent heatstroke and related diseases for employees.
For example, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department still requires street cleaners to wear reflective vests with materials that hinder heat dissipation. However, in 2019, the Department has clearly worked with academic institutions to develop and design new uniforms with perspiration and ventilation functions. The cleaners under the 20 street cleansing service contracts used it. For the rest of the workers, they would wait for the expiration of the contract to be renewed before being able to issue new uniforms as an excuse. This arrangement is extremely unreasonable.
If the department really wants to help them cope with the hot weather, they should arrange new uniforms for all workers as soon as possible, instead of waiting for the transfer to be replaced.
Professor Chen Bingquan once introduced a heat-resistant vest that helps workers wick away sweat and feel cool.
(Photo by Junjie Lai)
For construction workers who belong to the main group of outdoor work, the Construction Industry Council has now developed the second generation of heat-resistant uniforms.
But to further cool down, a freezer may be a better choice, the principle is to help workers cool down through a built-in freezer bag and a small fan.
There are different styles and sales of freezer clothes overseas. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University also developed it in 2013 and tried to wear it for workers, but there was a lack of follow-up afterwards.
If workers resist because the clothes are too heavy or cumbersome, the government should continue to improve the design with institutions.
In fact, in principle, the freezing suit not only benefits the construction workers, but also the elevator maintenance staff and even the medical staff wearing protective equipment.
If the product is successfully developed and popularized, it will definitely open a new page for local innovation and technology applications.
Hong Kong is getting hotter, and everyone is affected, but compared to other groups, migrant workers — especially grassroots migrant workers — are definitely the first to bear the brunt.
Relative to the upper-middle class, they lack protection in the workplace, and they may continue to endure the sultry heat after returning home from get off work due to the pressure of electricity bills and unsuitable housing restrictions, which greatly damages the quality of life.
When the government responds to the hot weather, its thinking cannot be limited to ensuring basic work safety and personal health, but must further formulate corresponding policies on the level of combating social inequality.
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