Meters for protection of workers from the heat stressunder heat conditions, announced the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, after the Emergency Bulletin of Dangerous Weather Phenomena (EDEKF) of the National Meteorological Service (EMY), which announces conditions heatwave from Wednesday (12/7/2023) until the beginning of next week.

THE heat he has the name CLEON and is included in Dangerous Weather Phenomena lasting at least six days with warmer days on Friday (14-7-2023) and Saturday (15-7-2023)”.

In the context of compliance with the rules for Health and Safety at Work, the Ministry of Labor & Social Security issues a strict recommendation to employers to take the necessary technical and organizational measuresaccording to the current legislation, as well as in reduction of employment and/or cessation of work during peak temperature hours (12.00 – 17.00), where this is considered, on a case-by-case basis, necessary, to avoid the phenomena of thermal stress under heat conditions.

In particular, taking into account the relevant circular dated May 26, 2023 (prot. no. 52903) of the General Secretariat of Labor Relations of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the following are foreseen:

A. ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES TO PREVENT HEAT EXHAUSTION

  • Organization of working time by planning breaks of appropriate duration to reduce workers’ thermal stress.
  • Scheduling of tasks involving high thermal stress of workersif possible, at times outside temperature peaks.
  • Reduction of employment or cessation of work in particularly thermally burdened areas such as machine shops, foundries, glassworks, ceramic factories, shipbuilding works, etc. between the hours of 12.00-17.00.
  • Configuration of canteens, or other suitable spaces for break time. These spaces, depending on the objective needs and possibilities, to be equipped with an air conditioning system. These areas will be selected after the cooperation of the employer and the Safety Technician, Occupational Physician and EYAE members and where there are no employee representatives.
  • Provision of drinking cool water at a temperature of 10 -15 °C.

B. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR OUTDOOR WORKS

Measures that can be taken to deal with any thermal stress of the workers include:

  • Provision and use of suitable headgear where the use of protective helmets is not foreseen, as well as skin protection means.
  • Configuration / selection of shaded area for breaks.
  • Shady part configuration / selection or construction of suitable shelters for the execution of the taskswhere possible.
  • Scheduling of tasks so that the most burdened (e.g. asphalting works) are done at the hours when the temperatures are lower.
  • Reduction of employment and/or cessation of operations during the time interval between hours 12.00-17.00
  • Provision of drinking cool water (10-15 °C).

For workers who belong to high-risk groups and especially in cases of exposure to aggravating conditions, is recommendedwhere this is possible by the nature of the work, the ability to work remotely through telecommuting (Table 1).

THE Labour Inspection intensifies targeted inspections in workplaces, in accordance with the attached circular No. 267075 /30.05.2023, with an emphasis on

  • outdoor works (e.g. construction, road and other technical works),
  • work in covered areas, where due to the nature of the production processes there may be additional thermal stress from high temperature-humidity values ​​and radiant heat (e.g. in foundries, metallurgies, plastics industries, etc.), as well as manual operations (e.g. transport of heavy objects, building materials).

Finally, it is recommended frequent referral of employers to the website http://www.hnms.gr/emy/el/forecast/deikths_wbgt of EMY where there is 48-hour forecast of the relevant bioclimatic forecast index (WBGT) of workers’ thermal stresswhich should be taken seriously into account when planning the work and/or the technical and organizational measures to prevent thermal stress of the workers.

Similarly, estimation of the WBGT index (THIVMAS) for outdoor areas in real time and forecasts for the next 48 hours, also provided by the application “THIVMAS – Heat Stress Index” for smart phonesreceiving weather data from the weather station closest to the user: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gr.wbgt

In case of complaints, the public can contact the complaints telephone number 1555 or the competent local Occupational Safety and Health Inspections.