[Ireland] Union proposes maximum working temperature and ‘climate leave’

In Ireland, a statutory maximum working temperature and climate leave are among the new extreme-weather proposals proposed by the Unite union, The Journal reports.

Unite now wants a meeting with Enterprise Minister Peter Burke to discuss proposals, including four days’ paid “climate leave” if conditions make travel hazardous or workers need time to deal with urgent domestic needs resulting from extreme weather.

The union reportedly stated that a maximum working temperature should be set depending on the type of work and the working environment.

Unite is seeking obligations on employers to attempt to reduce high temperatures. It has called for an action level of 24C where heat management controls/systems must be put in place and an absolute maximum temperature of 30C (27C for “strenuous jobs”) at which work should stop if these cannot be prevented by using engineering controls.

In addition, the proposals reportedly include an obligation on employers to conduct risk assessments during extreme weather events, a stoppage of all routine outdoor work during orange weather alerts and cessation of all non-essential indoor and outdoor work during red alerts. Workers would continue to be paid during such closures.

Susan Fitzgerald - Unite’s Irish secretary - said, “Accelerating climate change means that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are set to increase.

“Workers must not be made to pay the price – in terms of their safety, health and livelihoods – for a climate crisis not of their making”.

Unite released the results of a member survey to coincide with International Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28. The survey was carried out after Storm Eowyn and revealed that 55 per cent of respondents did not feel safe travelling to and from work during the storm

More than half of those who had to work outdoors on the day of the storm didn’t feel their employer had taken all reasonable precautions to make work safe. Of those whose employer did not require them to work on the day of the storm, nearly a third reportedly had to take the day as annual leave, unpaid leave, flexitime, sick leave or time-off-in-lieu (TOIL).

Sharon Graham - Unite general secretary -  said, “Our survey exposes that many workers felt unsafe working and travelling during Storm Eowyn, while some employers even attempted to shift the financial cost of closure onto workers by insisting they take a day’s leave.

“On International Workers’ Memorial Day, we are demanding that the government climate-proof health and safety laws to ensure that workers’ lives and incomes are protected during extreme weather.”

Source: The Journal

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Ireland, a statutory maximum working temperature and climate leave are among the new extreme-weather proposals proposed by the Unite union, The Journal reports.

Unite now wants a meeting with Enterprise Minister Peter Burke to discuss proposals, including four days’ paid “climate leave” if conditions make travel hazardous or workers need time to deal with urgent domestic needs resulting from extreme weather.

The union reportedly stated that a maximum working temperature should be set depending on the type of work and the working environment.

Unite is seeking obligations on employers to attempt to reduce high temperatures. It has called for an action level of 24C where heat management controls/systems must be put in place and an absolute maximum temperature of 30C (27C for “strenuous jobs”) at which work should stop if these cannot be prevented by using engineering controls.

In addition, the proposals reportedly include an obligation on employers to conduct risk assessments during extreme weather events, a stoppage of all routine outdoor work during orange weather alerts and cessation of all non-essential indoor and outdoor work during red alerts. Workers would continue to be paid during such closures.

Susan Fitzgerald - Unite’s Irish secretary - said, “Accelerating climate change means that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are set to increase.

“Workers must not be made to pay the price – in terms of their safety, health and livelihoods – for a climate crisis not of their making”.

Unite released the results of a member survey to coincide with International Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28. The survey was carried out after Storm Eowyn and revealed that 55 per cent of respondents did not feel safe travelling to and from work during the storm

More than half of those who had to work outdoors on the day of the storm didn’t feel their employer had taken all reasonable precautions to make work safe. Of those whose employer did not require them to work on the day of the storm, nearly a third reportedly had to take the day as annual leave, unpaid leave, flexitime, sick leave or time-off-in-lieu (TOIL).

Sharon Graham - Unite general secretary -  said, “Our survey exposes that many workers felt unsafe working and travelling during Storm Eowyn, while some employers even attempted to shift the financial cost of closure onto workers by insisting they take a day’s leave.

“On International Workers’ Memorial Day, we are demanding that the government climate-proof health and safety laws to ensure that workers’ lives and incomes are protected during extreme weather.”

Source: The Journal

(Quotes via original reporting)