Hong Kong authorities are under pressure to review the warning system for heat stress at work after it remained at the lowest risk level on Sunday, despite the city sweltering through its hottest day on record.
Labour unionists, joined by a leading meteorologist, also proposed relaxing the law to recognise heatstroke as a work-related injury, thus entitling workers to compensation.
A scorching 36.9 degrees Celsius was recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday afternoon, the highest since records began in 1884, sparking a fresh debate over protecting employees working outdoors in the heat.
Mainly because of the influence of outer subsiding air of Severe Typhoon Dolphin, temperatures reached 37 degrees or above in many districts. In Sheung Shui, the mercury hit 39.8 degrees, the city’s highest reading since automatic weather stations were introduced in the 1980s.
Chau Sze-kit, chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, said: “The heat stress alert seems to have made a mockery of the record-breaking heat. It has stayed at the lowest amber level throughout the day.
“The requirements for triggering a higher alert are set too rigidly. There were cases when the amber warning was in force but the temperature at a site was already close to 40 degrees.”
