STAL says thousands of workers are at increasing risk due to periods of extreme heat
Local administration workers union STAL is demanding protective measures to safeguard outdoor workers against extreme heat.
With the Portuguese summer finally bearing down in earnest (today sees various districts on orange alerts for very high temperatures), STAL has issued a statement stressing how conditions for outdoor workers have been worsening “in recent years”, with periods of extreme heat becoming more frequent and prolonged, which has serious impacts on health, “making work even more difficult and increasing safety risks for thousands”.
The union warns that outdoor workers in local administration – made up of local authorities, public and private services and companies – are especially susceptible to exposure to high temperatures and/ or direct sunlight.
To this end, STAL “is challenging local authorities and municipal and concessionary companies to find organisational solutions and collective and individual protection measures to safeguard workers’ health, in conjunction with Occupational Health and Safety Services (OSH)”.
Among other ‘necessary measures’, the union is calling for employers to establish heat prevention plans, which could be based on alerts issued by Civil Protection.
They are also calling for fresh drinking water to be made available in the workplace, for the operation of air conditioning equipment to be safeguarded and for exposure to direct sunlight to be limited
Providing air-conditioned and shaded rest areas, adapting work processes, only allowing work in air-conditioned vehicles during the hottest hours, slower work rhythms and longer recovery periods, as well as including sunscreen in the list of Personal Protective Equipment, are other measures demanded.
STAL points out that the “thermal risk caused by exposure to high temperatures is well known and has serious consequences: heatstroke, exhaustion, muscle ruptures, fainting, cramps, rashes and swelling”.
The union says it has alerted various organisations to this situation.
“The law doesn’t set a temperature above which workers have to stop working, but there are rules and guidelines that have to be respected and employers are obliged to take care of the health of the workers in their service and cannot expose them to occupational hazards such as heat. They even have the obligation to organise services and adopt measures that promote Safety and Health at Work,’ stresses STAL.
Source: LUSA
