Hong Kong’s new heatstroke guidelines are not mandatory but employers who do not heed the advice can still face legal consequences, the city’s labour minister has warned as workers and bosses questioned the effectiveness of the new system.
“It is not a regulation, but it does not mean there are no legal consequences. We will conduct inspections and issue advice or warnings if employers are not doing enough,” Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han on Saturday said.
“If some employers are repeatedly found deliberately not complying with the guidelines, and the environment poses a serious risk of heatstroke to workers, we will not rule out suing them,” he warned on a radio programme.
Sun pointed out authorities could invoke the clause concerning the general duty of provision under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance to take employers to court.
Earlier this week authorities unveiled a new three-tier warning system that will take effect from Monday to protect outdoor workers against heatstroke, covering also indoor staff who work without air conditioning or close to heat sources.
Unions questioned if employers would execute the guidelines, which will not be legally binding, while bosses complained they were given too little time to prepare for implementation and that adherence to the recommendations would slow down work processes, especially in construction.
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But Sun on Saturday said employers in Hong Kong generally followed occupational safety guidelines set out by the Labour Department.
“The advantage of having guidelines is more flexibility. The concerns would be much bigger if it is in the form of legislation,” he said.
Wan, a contractor who has experienced heatstroke and who only gave his surname while calling into the same radio programme, said the guidelines were “useless”.
“The government should use legislative means to regulate … Of course, you could still sue them but employers will say they have offered remedial measures such as setting up fans and shelter. They will think they have done enough and it is up to them to follow the guidelines,” he argued.
Sun said actual work settings varied citywide and the government hoped employers could use the framework to form suitable arrangements with workers.
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The Guidance Notes on Prevention of Heat Stress At Work will provide a three-tier warning system based on the Hong Kong Heat Index, co-developed by the Observatory and Chinese University by calculating the relative humidity, intensity of sunlight and temperature recorded at the forecaster’s Tsim Sha Tsui station.
When the index hits 30, an amber warning will apply, with an upgrade to red or black when the mark reaches 32 or 34, respectively. Workers will be advised to suspend their duties or rest for periods of 15 to 45 minutes based on their categorised level of labour intensity.
Scaffolders and bar-benders involved in “very heavy” labour are advised to halt work during black or red warnings, while porters and concreters classified as involved in “heavy” labour can only stop under the black warning and can take a 45-minute break for every 15 minutes of work with red alerts in place.
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Sun said the guidelines were flexible as bosses and workers could adapt and agree on them based on various work conditions.
He dismissed the suggestion of solely relying on the temperature to determine warning levels, arguing factors such as dryness or humidity also played a role in work fatigue.
“It is more scientific and concrete than just looking at the temperature,” he said.
The Labour Department earlier said that since 2014, Hong Kong had never experienced days corresponding to a black warning.
Sun said he hoped the guidelines could cover all situations, including extreme ones, and that the black warning would not be issued frequently.
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Separately, he said the Top Talent Pass Scheme implemented in December, aimed at luring professionals to the city, had received 17,000 applications as of April.
“Ten thousand candidates have already secured their visas and 5,000 of them have come to Hong Kong,” he revealed.
He added that two-thirds of applicants were from mainland China, with the rest from overseas, though some still had connections across the border.
