‘Is-Sħana’
Following one of Malta’s hottest days when temperatures reached 40.2°C (1), I felt that this month’s post has to be about heat exposure. How hot is too hot, what do the guidelines and legislation say and how to protect yourself against heat and sun exposure?
The OHSA aimed to answer the latter by publishing guidelines on work carried out in warm weather and in the sun(2).
The publication starts off by stating that a comfortable temperature should be in the range of 20°C to 25°C. This range is also cited in the Compliance code – Workplace amenities and work environment issued by WorkSafe Victoria(3). However, it is common knowledge that it may be impossible to achieve such temperature for outdoor workspaces in the summer. Working in high temperatures for prolonged periods of time can lead to a lack of alertness, tiredness and other heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke and heat cramps.
The OHSA document goes on to explain good practise which is to be followed by the employers and employees such as the provision of adequate ventilation, an increase of breaks, access to potable water, job rotation, and provision of adequate clothing and training. However, these are only guidelines and it is up to the employer to carry out a risk assessment to determine what is required to be implemented. Furthermore, the guidelines are somewhat vague…what is adequate clothing? The Skin Cancer Foundation states that clothing should cover as much skin as possible, and be loose and dark/bright coloured(4). However, due to lack of information, it is common to see construction workers wearing vests or no shirt at all.
What are other countries doing to combat this risk?
When it comes to temperature, it is very difficult to obtain guidelines and/or legislation from European countries. The biggest problem for EU countries is cold weather. In an approved code of practice published by the Health and Safety Executive a workplace minimum temperature of 16 °C can be found, however since hot weather is not common in the UK, the maximum temperature is not mentioned(5).
In a document titled “Health and safety – time for change” published by The Trades Union Congress based in the UK, it is stated that 14% of workers’ safety representatives remarked high temperatures as a major concern. One would only imagine what this percentage would be if such a survey is carried out in Malta. In this same document, the TUC is calling for a maximum limit of 30°C to be set for workplaces(6).
However, more fruitful information can be found if one looks at guidance and legislation published by countries with warmer climates.
The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) set the threshold limit value between 25 °C and 34 °C depending on the activity being carried out at the workplace and other environmental conditions such as airflow and humidity(7).
On March 26th, in the United States of America, the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act of 2021 was introduced which aims to push forward the development of a safety standard for the prevention of exposure to excessive heat. The aim is to publish this standard within 2 years and is to include, amongst others, action limit values, medical surveillance, paid breaks and exposure monitoring(8).
A country at the forefront of implementing legislation protecting workers from heat is the United Arab Emirates. A law banning outside work and working in the sun from 12:30 to 15:00 is enforced from June to September. The law is backed up by hefty fines and other administrative penalties for those found to be in breach(9). In Malta, a ban on construction work is implemented in certain localities to protect tourism. What about protecting the workers from the sun?
In a country where public health warnings targeting high temperatures are common, where heat stress and long sun exposure are acknowledged as a serious problem by the chief of OHSA(10) and where heat exposure was identified as a workers’ main concern in 2002 by the HSE in a report called ‘Perceptions of health and safety in Malta’(11) …. shouldn’t specific legislation regulating heat be published? shouldn’t we be at the European forefront in the implementation of innovative arrangements against exposure to heat and sun?
Resources
- Thursday was Malta’s hottest June day in almost 100 years (timesofmalta.com)
- OHSA_Guidance_Work_in_the_Sun_and_Heat.pdf (gov.mt)
- Compliance code: Workplace amenities and work environment – WorkSafe
- Sun Protective Clothing – The Skin Cancer Foundation
- HSE – Temperature: What the Law says
- Temperature.pdf (tuc.org.uk)
- Applying the ACGIH TLV for Thermal Stress to Workers by Modeling (orau.org)
- S.1068 – 117th Congress (2021-2022): Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act of 2021 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
- Midday break in UAE: How the law protects wellbeing of workers – News | Khaleej Times
- Growing concern over stress at the workplace’ – MaltaToday.com.mt
- CRR 444\2002 Perceptions of health and safety in Malta (hse.gov.uk)