Not only a heat wave countermeasure, but a ‘workplace safety’ measure(Jul. 2024)

Min Choi, MD

Activist and occupational and environmental medicine specialist

Translated by Se-Eun Kim

Reviewed by Joe DiGangi

Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health

In the summer, there are frequent articles exposing the extreme temperatures in which some workers work. The articles mainly feature outdoor workers who work in the scorching sun, such as riders, delivery workers, and construction workers. They also include school cafeteria workers who each prepare meals for 100 people and by May work in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius. Finally, articles sometime include workers at logistics centers who are severely lacking in air conditioning. However, the problem will not be solved if it is consumed as an article only when it is ‘hot.’ At a press conference on the heatwave last year, a labor union activist lamented, “If you hold a press conference when it’s the hottest, by the time the news is reported and public opinion emerges, the heat will have died down a little, and when the cold wind blows, people will forget who worked and died during the heatwave.”

Voluntary measurement activities, institutional improvement, and now a solution 

Following years of raising issues and struggles, the scope of disaster prevention measures based on the rules on occupational safety and health standards has expanded. However, ‘high-heat work’ that requires health hazard prevention measures is still defined primarily as work in places where heat sources such as furnaces or electric furnaces exist. However, as claims continued to be made that such limited “high-heat work” regulations “cannot properly protect workers working in heat waves in the era of the climate crisis,” the law was amended in 2017. Article 566 was added to require employers to take necessary measures to prevent health problems for workers, such as allowing them to take appropriate breaks when working in “outdoor locations directly exposed to heat waves.” Article 567 requires provision of shaded areas for use during break times. In 2022, the clause “outdoor locations” was deleted from the scope of those requiring necessary measures to prevent health problems, and the scope was expanded to “cases where there is a risk of heatstroke or other diseases occurring due to working in locations exposed to heat waves” (Article 566).

There has also been continued criticism that the heat wave standards presented by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in its heat wave-related guidelines are limited to air temperature. The Korea Meteorological Administration has already issued special reports based on the perceived temperature, which takes into account temperature and humidity, but the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s guidelines have been based on the air temperature, saying to follow the weather reports. The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency’s new guidelines for preventing heat-related illnesses, including heatstroke, published in 2022 also suggest using perceived temperature information and, if there is a self-management system for heat-related illnesses, using the wet-bulb temperature index. However, since there is no obligation to measure temperature and humidity in the workplace, workers and the media have taken action to measure the temperature and humidity themselves and demand solutions to the problem. The construction union has installed thermometers and hygrometers throughout construction sites and has demanded countermeasures by revealing the difference between the ambient temperature and the perceived temperature. Several media outlets have also measured the perceived temperatures of workers exposed to various heat waves. 

Accordingly, the Ministry of Employment and Labor also said that starting this year, they will change the heat wave standard from the ambient temperature to the perceived temperature, and take measures to prepare for heat waves when the perceived temperature exceeds 31 degrees Celsius, and require a 10-minute break per hour when it is over 33 degrees Celsius, and a 15-minute break when it is over 35 degrees Celsius.

Right to stop work when work becomes dangerous

Above all, the most important thing is to properly guarantee the right to stop work during heat waves. This is different from the guidelines that require employers to give workers 10 or 15 minutes of rest per hour based on perceived temperature. The guidelines are only a minimum based on objective figures, but workers should be given the authority to adjust their own work speed and time to some extent, taking into account not only temperature and humidity but also their own condition. According to the Industrial Safety and Health Act, workers have the right to stop work and evacuate when there is an “imminent risk of industrial accidents.” As long as it is not done intentionally to disrupt work or cause harm to the company, workers’ right to stop work must be guaranteed.

Lee Jeong-hee, a researcher at the Korea Labor Institute, also suggests including a provision in collective bargaining agreements that states “refusal to work in the event of extreme weather or disaster.” The construction union is demanding that at least public institutions specify a guarantee of work stoppage during extreme heat. The Riders Union also proposed a system that would allow delivery platforms to suspend deliveries or limit workload for a certain period of time when a heat wave warning is issued, using rider license information managed by the Road Traffic Authority and platform companies’ algorithms. Regarding school meal workers, the Education Civil Service Labor Union suggests that they can cool down while working by only implementing double boiling water once as recommended or by lowering the labor intensity by using convenience foods or semi-cooked products.

Income security to be able to stop working when it’s hot

Nevertheless, it is not easy for workers to stop working on their own. The Ministry of Employment and Labor also emphasizes the importance of the ‘right to stop work’ during heat waves. In May 2024, the Vice Minister of Employment and Labor stated, “In accordance with the Industrial Safety and Health Act, we recommend that work stoppages be issued during heat waves, and 77% of the inspection targets (2,471 locations) last year protected workers with the right to stop work.” However, this is very different from what workers on site feel. In 2023, a survey conducted by the Construction Workers’ Union found that 8 out of 10 workers “worked outdoors without stopping even in 35-degree heat.” This means that we need to look beyond simply whether work was temporarily suspended, to who stopped working, when, how long, and under what conditions.

The right to stop work needs to be improved to make it practical. One example is a measure to guarantee wage loss when work is stopped due to heat waves. For example, during the COVID-19 period in 2021, public institution-commissioned construction projects were stipulated in accounting regulations to stop work in the event of inclement weather such as heat waves, and to guarantee coverage of losses such as construction periods and wages due to work stoppages.

The Riders Union proposed the introduction of climate unemployment benefits. Delivery workers without fixed salaries can take a direct hit to their livelihoods if they use their right to stop work or if deliveries are restricted due to heat waves. Furthermore, the current weather surcharge system, which is provided as a hazard allowance during heat waves or rain, makes it seem as if riders ‘prefer’ to work in difficult environments. Since platform workers are also enrolled in employment insurance, they should utilize unemployment benefits. Unable to work due to the heat threatening to their health is a state similar to involuntary unemployment. The climate unemployment benefits system is proposed as a system that provides a certain level of economic security even if they do not work in such cases.

Agricultural migrant workers, freedom of movement between workplaces and restrictions on working hours

It is easy to think of agricultural workers as workers who have no choice but to work outdoors in the blazing sun. In addition, due to the aging of the rural population, many people suffer from heat-related illnesses or, in severe cases, die every year while working in fields or greenhouses. Farmers are often not affiliated with a specific workplace, so they are often not counted as occupational illness victims.

Migrant workers who fill the shortage of labor in rural areas are also exposed to heat waves, and here again, heat waves are not the only problem. Agricultural workers are not subject to the Labor Standards Act’s standards for working hours, rest, and holidays. As a result, they often work 10 to 12 hours a day, and are often made to work up to 28 days a month.

It is said that in rural work culture, workers often rest during the hottest hours, but there is no autonomy. There are even reports that employers impose ‘penalties’ on workers if they rest more during times not planned by the employer. In addition, workers who are not free to move and change their workplace due to the employment permit system feel that they have no other choice but to endure this dangerous environment. Workers with weak labor rights take on greater risks and suffer disadvantages in terms of safety and health. The same is true in heat waves. It is not an absurd demand that restrictions on working hours for agricultural workers and freedom of movement of workplaces for migrant workers are among the countermeasures against heat waves.

Heatwave, a ‘natural’ disaster?

In the book, “Doctors Who Went into the Chimney” published by our institute, Ryu Hyun-cheol, a member and occupational medicine specialist, wrote about the death of a young shipyard worker from heatstroke, saying, “The cause of heatstroke is not the sun, but the low-quality system.”

Heatwave-induced disasters are not ‘natural’ disasters. It is said that food deliveries increase in hot weather, but how delivery distances and fees are set, and how the number of deliveries is limited in hot weather determines how a delivery rider is exposed to the heat. The frequency, intensity, and form of exposure of migrant workers in the agricultural, livestock, and fisheries industries also vary as a function of their work environment, working hours, and wages.

We cannot eliminate heat waves right away, but we can greatly reduce accidents and illnesses caused by heat waves. In that sense, heat wave measures are not measures against heat. They are measures to protect the work environment and workers’ health rights through the medium of heat. Even though this article is being published during a time when it is getting hotter, let’s not forget to change the system even when the heat has subsided. Let’s welcome next summer differently.