As temperatures shot upwards in many Chinese cities in recent
days, the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) called
Monday for migrants working outside in high temperatures to be
protected. Extended lunch breaks and avoiding overtime were
suggested as being good ideas.
Over the summer months the ACFTU is organizing various
activities together with local trade unions to improve the living
and employment conditions of migrant workers to ensure they remain
safe in the hot weather. These activities will focus on
construction sites, hot workshops and outdoor employment where
migrant workers are concentrated, said Liu Haihua, vice director of
the Department for Social Security Affairs under the ACFTU.
The ACFTU also urges related government departments to further
enhance laws related to migrant workers' employment and living
conditions. The federation is also actively pushing ahead with
research on how to better protect the rights of these
workers.
On July 4, a female worker from a factory in Fuzhou, capital of
southeast China's Fujian Province, passed out while working. She
was sent to a hospital and diagnosed with sunstroke. The woman
suffered hyperventilation, a fever of 41.6 degrees centigrade and
low blood pressure. She died the next morning.
Her death drew attention to the plight of those working in high
temperatures. Some Internet users posted comments saying that
China's insufficient labor safety standards were partly
responsible.
Temporary Regulation for Measures on Heatstroke Prevention and
Temperature Reduction enacted on July 1, 1960 is the only law at
present in place to protect those working in high temperature
environments, but the non-mandatory regulation doesn't appear to
appropriately protect those actually involved in this type of
work.
On August 17, 2005, Shenzhen enacted a temporary regulation to
protect those working in hot environments. This was the first such
regulation enacted by local government. The regulation states that
work should be halted when the temperature reaches 40℃; working
time should not exceed 4 hours if the temperature reaches 38℃;
laborers should rest in turns when the temperature reaches 35℃ and
no outdoor tasks be undertaken between 12:00 to 15:00 in the
afternoon.
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency, July 12, 2006)
