Commissioner for Labour reminds cleaning workers to take precautions against heat stroke (with photos)
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The visit is part of a six-month-long large-scale promotional campaign on heat stroke prevention launched by the Labour Department (LD) and the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) in April for raising employers' and employees' awareness of heat stroke prevention. The major activity of the campaign is to visit various workplaces with a higher risk of heat stroke, and distribute cooling products to frontline workers, while sharing relevant safety information.
Accompanied by the representatives of the OSHC and Hong Kong Environmental Services, Logistics and Cleaning Employees Association, Mr Sun presented the workers with gift bags for heat stroke prevention. He took the opportunity to remind them to drink plenty of water, wear a wide-brimmed hat and use cooling products to help with heat dissipation when working in very hot weather. The gift bag contained a portable waist fan, a cooling towel, a pair of sun-protection arm sleeves, a water bottle and an information card on preventing heat stroke.
"Workers may feel sick if they work in a hot or humid environment for prolonged periods of time. Severe cases may even present with signs of heat stroke, such as convulsions, mental confusion and loss of consciousness. Heat stroke can be fatal. Employers have a duty to take adequate preventive measures to effectively safeguard workers from heat stroke," Mr Sun said.
To enhance workers' awareness of heat stroke and encourage their adoption of related preventive measures, the LD and the OSHC have recently launched the Portable Waist Fan Sponsorship Scheme for SMEs to sponsor small and medium-sized enterprises in specified industries to buy portable waist fans at a discounted price. The fan is small in size. Mounted on the waist, the fan delivers cool air under the clothing and helps to dissipate heat. Requiring no hands for its operation, the fan allows the worker to work freely. Details of the related application can be found at www.oshc.org.hk/eng/main/news/SME_fan.
In addition to promotional visits to workplaces, other activities of this year's promotional campaign include organising health talks and conducting extensive publicity on different platforms.
Ends/Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Issued at HKT 18:55
Issued at HKT 18:55
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