Hong Kong heat stress: construction industry issues revised guidelines on alerts in bid to fix ‘confusing and impractical’ system
- Industry guidelines suggest workers take 15-minute break at 10am and a 30-minute one at 3.15pm when government heat stress alert is issued
- Measures jointly drafted by Hong Kong Construction Association, trade unions and subcontractors, and endorsed by Labour Department
Construction industry players in Hong Kong have reached a consensus on giving workers on site at least two rest periods of up to 30 minutes and a longer lunch break regardless of job type whenever the government’s heat stress alert is issued.
Industry leaders said they hoped the new guidelines, which took effect on Tuesday, would be a step forward in better protecting employees in scorching weather, three months after authorities introduced a three-tier warning system for heat stress at work.
The industry measures were jointly drafted by the Hong Kong Construction Association, trade unions and subcontractors, and endorsed by the Labour Department.
The association represents more than 300 companies, which account for over 70 per cent of turnover across construction projects in the city.
Godfrey Leung King-kwok, executive director of the association, on Tuesday said it was hoped the measures would resolve ambiguities in the government’s current anti-heatstroke guidelines, which unionists had called “confusing and impractical”.
While the department’s guidelines recommend employees stop work for between 15 and 45 minutes every hour whenever a heat alert is issued, those released by the industry on Tuesday suggested staff take a 15-minute break at 10am, and a 30-minute one at 3.15pm.
When an amber alert is issued, the lunch break will be extended to an hour and 15 minutes compared with an hour previously.
An extra 15 minutes will be added to each break when a red alert is in place. All employees are required to stop work when a black warning is issued.
“We hope the guidelines … help the industry practically implement breaks for workers. The recommended rest time is the minimum hours workers should have,” Leung said.
The revisions cover all construction jobs, without dividing them into light, medium or heavy work as the government had set out.
The guidelines also recommend heat relief measures for workers including providing shelters and cooling equipment on site.
Leung advised site safety officers to conduct a risk assessment every morning and set out flexible rest periods for workers depending on their needs.
Several major companies are members of the association, including Chevalier, China State Construction Engineering and Gammon Construction.
Leung said he was confident association members and subcontractors would follow through with the guidelines.
He also stressed the latest guidelines would be “in compliance” with the government’s framework and the three-tier warning system. The government’s system is based on the Hong Kong Heat Index co-developed by the Observatory and Chinese University.
Wong Ping, chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, welcomed the new guidelines, saying they would give workers “legitimacy” to take breaks.
“Longer rest periods will inevitably cause delays to some construction projects, but workers’ health should come first,” he said.
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Association vice-president Conrad Fung Kwok-keung said having breaks with a fixed time would be more “manageable” for employers and would further improve the government’s guidelines.
Previously, the construction sector had said employees were not made aware of the warning notification when they focused on work.
Some workers and unionists noted that employers were left confused by the government guidelines when alerts were raised and cancelled within intervals as short as 10 to 20 minutes on some days.
A Labour Department spokesman said officers conducted 8,500 site inspections from May 15 to July 31, and 530 warnings were issued to urge responsible parties to conduct heat stress risk assessments and control measures. He said no employers were prosecuted.
