The mainland is taking steps to protect workers from scorching temperatures, through what will likely be its first set of comprehensive occupational safety standards for working in the blazing heat.
The drafted regulations on heat-prevention measures and regulations recently concluded their public consultation period. If approved, they would prohibit pregnant women and minors from working in temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.
The administrative order, which is not a law, would also allow workers to claim heatstroke as a work injury and to seek damages from their employers who violate the regulations.
Labour-rights experts welcomed the draft, but noted that it came decades after similar standards were set in the other countries.
The mainland introduced regulations in 1960 on suitable temperatures for working but they applied to only a handful of industries, such as agriculture. But the rules have been criticised as outdated and ambiguous, covering few workers today.
The current draft was jointly drafted by the State Administration of Work Safety, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Temperatures given by local weather bureaus will be used as official gauges of heat.