Extreme heat at work: Keys to the new labor regulations to protect workers
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2024 7:21 am
Did you know that 2022 stood out as the year with the most heat-attributable deaths since 2015?
The Carlos III Health Institute estimates that in Spain there have been just over 4,700 deaths related to excessive heat between April and September 2022. To avoid this situation, a regulation has recently been approved that limits outdoor work in extreme temperatures. We tell you all the details.
On May 13, the new regulation on labor legislation for the protection of workers who carry out their work outdoors came into force. Specifically, the Royal Decree regulating the minimum provisions for health and safety at work has been amended to introduce a single additional provision relating to minimum environmental conditions in outdoor work.
What does the new regulation establish for cases of heat waves?
The new labor regulations establish the following:
When work is carried out outdoors or in places that cannot be closed, measures must be taken to protect workers from any risk related to adverse weather phenomena such as extreme temperatures.
The measures taken as a result of the assessment of occupational risks, which will consider aspects such as:
The specific meteorological phenomenon that may affect the work.
The characteristics of the task being performed.
The personal characteristics or biological state of the worker.
Preventive measures will include prohibiting work during hours of the day when adverse weather conditions occur and worker protection cannot be guaranteed.
In the event that the State Meteorological Agency communication email list or the equivalent regional body issues a warning of adverse meteorological phenomena of orange or red level , and the preventive measures do not guarantee the protection of workers, working conditions will have to be adapted, for example, by reducing or modifying the working day.
If the protection of workers cannot be guaranteed during extreme weather events, working hours will have to be reduced or modified.
What types of jobs are affected by the new regulation?
As we have seen in the previous section, the new regulation affects work carried out outdoors and those involving an activity that cannot be carried out in closed spaces. The following places are expressly included:
means of transport used outside the company or at the centre and work,
construction works,
extractive industries,
fishing vessels and crop fields,
forests and other land located outside the company's facilities.
The new regulation affects work carried out outdoors and work carried out in open spaces.
The Carlos III Health Institute estimates that in Spain there have been just over 4,700 deaths related to excessive heat between April and September 2022. To avoid this situation, a regulation has recently been approved that limits outdoor work in extreme temperatures. We tell you all the details.
On May 13, the new regulation on labor legislation for the protection of workers who carry out their work outdoors came into force. Specifically, the Royal Decree regulating the minimum provisions for health and safety at work has been amended to introduce a single additional provision relating to minimum environmental conditions in outdoor work.
What does the new regulation establish for cases of heat waves?
The new labor regulations establish the following:
When work is carried out outdoors or in places that cannot be closed, measures must be taken to protect workers from any risk related to adverse weather phenomena such as extreme temperatures.
The measures taken as a result of the assessment of occupational risks, which will consider aspects such as:
The specific meteorological phenomenon that may affect the work.
The characteristics of the task being performed.
The personal characteristics or biological state of the worker.
Preventive measures will include prohibiting work during hours of the day when adverse weather conditions occur and worker protection cannot be guaranteed.
In the event that the State Meteorological Agency communication email list or the equivalent regional body issues a warning of adverse meteorological phenomena of orange or red level , and the preventive measures do not guarantee the protection of workers, working conditions will have to be adapted, for example, by reducing or modifying the working day.
If the protection of workers cannot be guaranteed during extreme weather events, working hours will have to be reduced or modified.
What types of jobs are affected by the new regulation?
As we have seen in the previous section, the new regulation affects work carried out outdoors and those involving an activity that cannot be carried out in closed spaces. The following places are expressly included:
means of transport used outside the company or at the centre and work,
construction works,
extractive industries,
fishing vessels and crop fields,
forests and other land located outside the company's facilities.
The new regulation affects work carried out outdoors and work carried out in open spaces.