Instructions for dealing with it thermal stress of workers, due to high temperatures, on the basis of the relevant Directives of the Directorate of Health and Safety at Work of the Ministry of Labor and the Directorate of Public Health & Hygienic Environment of the Ministry of Health, issued by the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), the Health and Safety Secretariat at Labor and the Information Center for Employees & Unemployed of the Confederation (KE.PEA./GSEE).

In order to deal with thermal stress due to high temperatures and in order to ensure compliance with the measures to protect the health and safety of workers, the framework of instructions for a) the description of high-risk groups of workers, b) the required technical measures, which must be taken as a precaution by employers, in combination with case-by-case measures depending on the specific conditions, c) the technical and organizational instructions for the measurements of temperature and humidity in the workplaces, d) the implementation of both preventive and and repressive controls by the Labor Inspectorate and e), in case of non-compliance, the imposition of the prescribed administrative and criminal sanctions.

Specifically:

  • The groups at high risk for their health from high temperatures are heart patients, lung patients, sufferers of chronic diseases (e.g. diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, blood pressure disorders), those taking specific medications (e.g. e.g. insulin, anti-diabetic, diuretic, anti-cholic coke), women during pregnancy, as well as people who work in a hot environment. The inclusion of employees in the above groups is done by the company’s occupational physician or, in cases where the employment of an occupational physician is not foreseen, with a medical certificate presented by the employee himself.
  • The required technical measures, which must be taken by employers on a case-by-case basis, relate to measurements of temperature and relative humidity in workplaces and interventions in the structural elements of buildings, in parts of the production process and in the required adaptation of the microclimate of the workplace .
  • The required organizational measures mainly concern the granting of breaks of appropriate duration and an appropriately configured space for rest time in order to reduce the thermal stress of the workers during the hot season, the supply of drinking water at a temperature of 10-15° C, the planning of the works, which entail high thermal stress of the workers at times outside temperature peaks and the drawing up of a plan to deal with the thermal stress of the workers, the provision of appropriate personal protection measures to the workers, the organization of infrastructure for first aid and dealing with emergency situations.

In particular, for outdoor work and outdoor work, it is also provided for the provision and use of suitable headgear, the creation of a shaded area for breaks, the construction of shelters and the planning of the work, so that the most strenuous work is done at times when the temperature is lower, reduction and/or cessation of operations during the time period between 12:00-16:00.

With regard to staying in air-conditioned spaces and in particular during the period of time when the risk of the coronavirus pandemic remains high, special measures must be systematically taken and observed to ensure public health from viral and other infections when using air conditioners units, with the aim of the proper operation of the air conditioning facilities and to avoid the creation of foci of contamination by other micro-organisms.

The determination of tasks and workplaces, where the risk thermal stress of employees is increased and the specialization of the technical and organizational measures, which must be taken on a case-by-case basis to deal with the thermal stress of the employees, is carried out with the active participation of the safety technician and the occupational doctor, in collaboration with the representatives of the employees and are recorded in the written occupational risk assessment required by law.

It is recalled that the unions and/or the health and safety committees have the right to consult and sign collective arrangements, with the object of implementing a plan to deal with the thermal stress of the workers, in collaboration with the safety technician and the occupational doctor.

The need for vigilance regarding the obligation to apply special legislative provisions or collective labor agreement terms concerning the health and safety issues of workers is further highlighted.

Typical examples of related settings are:

  1. The provisions of the Mining and Quarrying Regulations for workers in open-air mining and quarries, which stipulate that, in order to avoid exposure to solar radiation, there should be an interruption or postponement of the time of execution of the work, when from the relevant measurements or EMY reports indicate conditions exceeding the prescribed temperature (or humidity) values.
  2. The provision of the SSE of artisan builders and related branches of the whole country, according to which the relevant work is interrupted in cases of heat, when the temperature at the place of work exceeds 38 degrees C in the shade, while the daily wage is paid without any reduction.
  3. The provision of the SSE 2022 for work carried out on ships and watercraft whether they are at sea or on land, according to which, when the EMY gives a local temperature of 36° and 37° C, work is stopped from 14:00 to 18:00: 00 and, when it gives a temperature of 38 degrees C and above, the working hours are between 07:00 and 13:00, without any reduction of the daily wage, and the interruption of the hours will be valid until 19:00.
  4. The provision of the SSE for external employees who use bicycles (distributors-courier) in publishing and stationery businesses, according to which they will not be employed outside the premises of the businesses, when there are hot conditions (38°C and above). In any case, the provisions of the current legislation regarding personal protective equipment also apply to workers in the transport and distribution of products by bicycle.

Collective Labor Agreements can be found on the website of the Mediation & Arbitration Organization.

Important information is available on the website of the Hellenic Institute for Health and Safety at Work (ELINYAE) in the field of thermal stress of workers

On her website National Meteorological Service, in addition to the forecast information for the weather in the whole country, in the individual Regions and cities, forecast maps with the value ranges of the WBGT/THYMVAS index (bioclimatic heat stress index) for outdoor spaces nationwide are posted.

Also, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has published the guide Heat at work-Guidance for workplaces https://osha.europa.eu /el/publications/heat-work-guidance-workplaces, which provides practical guidance on how to manage the risks associated with working in hot conditions.

As stated in the relevant announcement, the role of the Labor Inspectorate is crucial both the Labor Relations Inspectorate, and especially the Occupational Health and Safety Inspectorate, in terms of carrying out checks for the implementation of measures to reduce the thermal stress of workers in all workplaces and especially in those where, based on forecasts and announcements by the Ministry of Health regarding the prevalence of heatwave conditions, it is expected that there will be greater thermal stress, such as in outdoor areas or when work is provided outdoors (e.g. construction, road or other technical projects, couriers by bicycle, provision of services to outdoor spaces, agricultural work, etc.), to the sheltered with special production activity (e.g. foundries, steelworks, glassworks, metallurgies, plastic industries, ceramic factories, ginning plants, shipbuilding works, outdoor works, washer-dryers-ironing shops, grills-cooking etc.), in manual work (e.g. manual handling of heavy loads in transport, construction, etc.).

The competent services of the Labor Inspection have an obligation intensification of preventive controlsduring the summer season, in all workplaces, with priority given to those with the greatest burden from a thermal point of view, as well as immediate response to the relevant complaints of employees and their unions and the imposition of the prescribed sanctions in case of serious violations or non-compliance employers to the suggestions made to them.

In any case, it is a standing request of the GSEE to the Ministry of Labor to introduce into the current legislation on the Health and Safety of workers explicit provisions for the obligations of employers and mainly prohibitions to prevent the strain of workers and regulate their working conditions in the cases exposure to severe weather phenomena (heat, cold, etc.), which should be accompanied by strict penalties and intensification of timely inspections by the Labor Inspectorate.

GSEE emphasizes once again that the prevention and protection of the health and safety of workers and the timely and effective treatment of delinquency, through inspections by the Labor Inspectorate throughout the territory, must be a priority of the institutionalized social dialogue in the context of Supreme Council for Health and Safety at Work, the regular and effective operation of which is absolutely essential.

“The health and safety of workers is a fundamental human right and must be treated in practice by the state and the employer as such” notes the Confederation and underlines that the unions, the local Labor Centers and the Federations of the GSEE force, are vigilant for employee complaints.

As he points out, GSEE will continue to have at the disposal of trade unions and workers throughout the territory for any issue of information, support and collective action and in matters of health and safety, the GSEE Workers and Unemployed Information Center (KEPEA/GSEE) www .kepea.gr and the Network of Information & Consulting Services for Employees and Unemployed of the GSEE Labor Institute.