Workers Need Better Protections From the Heat (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0178829528
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/22/2020223/workers-need-better-protections-from-the-heat
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/news/764463/heat-stress-health-work-protections
> Expect record-breaking temperatures to [1]change the workplace , the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned today in a new report. When workers don't have adequate protections from heat stress, their health and productivity suffer.
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> It's a risk employers and lawmakers have to take more seriously if they want to keep workers safe and businesses prosperous, the agencies say. That means finding ways to adapt in a warming world, and paying close attention to groups that might be more vulnerable than others.
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> [...] More than 2.4 billion people around the world -- 71 percent of the working population -- experience workplace heat stress, according to estimates from the ILO. Each year, 22.85 million occupational injuries and 18,970 fatalities are linked to excessive heat at work. The report also says that worker productivity falls 2-3 percent with every degree increase above 20 degrees Celsius in wet-bulb globe temperature, a measure that takes humidity and other environmental factors into account.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/764463/heat-stress-health-work-protections
Too late in Texas (Score:3)
In 2023 Texas Republicans removed the mandate that companies [1]must provide breaks [npr.org] for workers in high heat situations.
I believe a few other red states did the same thing, or were at least considering it. After all, when they're sitting in their a/c offices, what do they care about the guy working on the roof in 105 F temperatures?
[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/21/1189179220/amid-a-record-heat-wave-texas-construction-workers-lose-their-right-to-rest-brea
lol air conditioning is far right (Score:2)
Since the french "right" proposed cooling government buildings and schools in France, the left is, of course, opposing it. They claim air conditioning is "far right".
[1]https://www.liberation.fr/idee... [liberation.fr]
AC penetration in France is very small, only 7% of french houses have one. The mortality rates in Europe soar over 150% during heat waves.
[1] https://www.liberation.fr/idees-et-debats/editorial/la-climatisation-un-contresens-ecologique-a-depasser-20250701_L6TNRQ63XZHLFM372GU6LBPVGY/
Makes no sense under anarcho-capitalism (Score:2)
Employment should be a free market! Jobs should go to who will work for the least amount of pay and under the worst conditions.
In the US? (Score:2)
Days of worrying about such trivialities are over.
Suck it up and move on.
(And try to drink enough water for the whole day before getting to work.)
Re: (Score:2)
I predict the opposite. Once we kick out all of the Mexicans and have to do the work ourselves we might actually start caring about the conditions.
The World Meteorological Organization ?! (Score:1)
What the fuck does the WMO have to do with workers' rights ?
Trump is demented, but he is right when he demands that scientific organizations STICK TO THE FUCKING SCIENCE or lose funding.
Need an union for that! (Score:2)
Need an union for that!