LTB 265/24 - CWU and TUC Welcomes Head of the United Nations (UN) Call for Protecting Workers from Extreme Heat
No: 265/24
Our Ref: E4/24
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
CWU and TUC Welcomes Head of the United Nations (UN) Call for Protecting Workers from Extreme Heat
In a report published on Thursday, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) called for greater protections for workers from extreme heat. Antonio Guterres stated that “A new rights-based approach is needed to safeguard workers from excessive temperatures.” The report states that workers should have the right to refuse to work in sweltering heat conditions if their health is being placed at risk.
The UN Secretary General issued the ‘urgent call to action’ after the world experienced its three hottest days on record. He stated that “the fact is that extreme temperatures are no longer a one-day, one-week or one-month phenomenon. If there is one thing that unites our divided world, it’s that we’re all increasingly feeling the heat. Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere.” He added that “heat is estimated to kill almost half a million people a year” and attributes fossil-fuel-charged, human-induced climate change to rising temperatures. Guterres said that “a growing number of workers face exposure to heat stress” and he called for urgent action and international cooperation to address the extreme heat in a number of critical areas.
These include caring for populations that are vulnerable to climate change, protecting exposed workers and ensuring their safety and health, boosting the resilience of economies and societies by using data and science, and limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C by phasing out fossil fuels and increasing investment in renewable energy. He stated that “We need measures to protect workers, enshrined in human rights and we must ensure that laws and regulations reflect the reality of extreme heat today – and are enforced”. He concluded that “heat is estimated to kill almost half a million people a year.”
The World Meteorological Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and others have reported that extreme heat events are increasing in scale, intensity, frequency and duration. Last month was not only the hottest on record, it also marked the 13th consecutive month to break global temperature records.
The CWU has joined the TUC and other UK Unions in welcoming the UN Secretary General’s call for urgent action on excessive working temperatures – and for workers to be given extra rights and protections. Extreme heat, hot summers and intense sunlight is becoming the norm around the world, and we agree for the need to strengthen UK laws to stop workers from being put at risk. Nobody should be forced to work in unbearable and dangerous conditions. TUC Congress policy is to call for a maximum indoor workplace temperature of 30 degrees. and if the work is of a heavy nature, it should be 27 degrees.
The CWU also wants better, consistent health and safety controls to consistently protect outdoor workers which is the workplace for the majority of CWU members. Two years ago, the health, safety and environment department pressed Royal Mail Group for action and it was agreed that outdoor work should cease on UK ‘Red Warning’ days when outdoor temperatures hit a UK record of 35C.
Attachments:
UN Press Release
UN Report
UN Secretary General Flyer
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
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