“Through the European Union, 23 % of assets are exposed to high temperatures for at least a quarter” of their working time, a percentage that climbs to 36 % in the agriculture and the ‘Industry and 38 % in construction according to the Eurofound agency.
Le Monde with AFP
At the heart of a summer when Europe has already undergone two heat wave periods, the European Union Confederation (CES) pleads Monday, July 25, 2022 for the adoption of a law which would fix a maximum temperature at work on the continent.
“Two workers died with a heat stroke in Spain last week. In France, a country that does not cap the temperatures at work, 12 people died of work accidents related to heat in 2020” , notes the CES in a press release. The results even increased Thursday in Spain, the emergency services of the Madrid region having announced the death “due to a heat stroke” of a man who distributed prospectus in the mailboxes.
However, “only a handful of European countries have legislation intended to protect workers during heat waves”, with “large variations” from one state to another.
a Optimal temperature between 16 and 24 ° C depending on the WHO
According to unions affiliated with CES, Belgian assets whose use is physically demanding cannot work when the temperature exceeds 22 ° C. The limit is set 5 ° C higher in Hungary for the same type of work, while Slovenia caps the temperature at 28 ° C on all workplaces. However, according to the World Health Organization, the optimal working temperature is between 16 and 24 ° C.
✅ 16 ° C – 24 ° C: normal working temperature
❗️30 ° C: Risk of Workplace Increases by 5-7%
‼ ️38 ° C+: Risk of… https://t.co/imwmt7zwqi
“Workers are on the front line of the climate crisis every day, they need adequate protections,” alerts the deputy secretary general of CES-Mikael Stahl. “The weather conditions do not care about national borders. This is why we need European level legislation on maximum working temperatures,” he continues in the press release.
The heat wave that struck Western Europe in mid-July caused more than 500 people in Spain and many temperature records were broken in France, the United Kingdom and Denmark. The multiplication of heat waves is a direct consequence of the climate crisis according to scientists, greenhouse gas emissions increasing both their intensity, their duration and their frequency.