European Unions Seek Workplace Heat Limits as Some Ministers Oppose Binding Rules

The Guardian reported that European trade unions are advancing proposals for new laws to address workplace heat stress tied to an estimated 230 deaths each year. The World Health Organization has already connected 1,300 excess deaths to the June heatwave, with other estimates reaching as high as 20,000 total deaths this year.

Unions seek maximum workplace wet bulb globe temperatures between 30C and 32.5C depending on work intensity, after which tasks would be suspended.

The draft text also calls for mandatory heat risk assessments at job sites and rights to breaks, shade, water, cooling and adjusted hours. Enrico Somaglia, general secretary of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions, stated that climate change now presents a daily occupational health and safety risk and a threat to job stability.

Three union federations representing 15 million workers are backing the measures.

In the UK, where an amber heat alert was issued Wednesday for the south-west of England, the Trades Union Congress is urging ministers to set a maximum working temperature. The TUC wants employers to reduce indoor temperatures above 24C and allow workers to stop at 30C, or 27C for strenuous jobs. The government's Climate Change Committee has endorsed the demand.

Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said indoor workplaces should maintain comfortable temperatures with flexible hours and relaxed dress codes, while outdoor workers require breaks, fluids, sunscreen and protective clothing. A Heat Strike movement that formed after the UK's hottest day in 2022 organized a national action with 1,500 participants during the late-June heatwave.