Cosatu calls for worker protection amid national heatwave
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called on employers to adhere to health and safety regulations and protect workers from dehydration and heat stress amid a recent heatwave that has engulfed the country.
“We call on all, especially on employers, in agriculture, construction, public works and those industries associated with warm and hot environments, such as mining,” it said.
It further advocated for the implementation of a heat plan should temperatures rise to dangerous levels, recommending that workers be given regular breaks and be provided hydration.
“When employees happen to work in hot conditions, employers should provide access to cool rest places to help them regulate their body temperature. This could be an air-conditioned area indoors or a shaded area on an outdoor job site.
“They should also follow weather alerts and measure the heat and humidity in the workplace to ensure they have not gone above dangerous levels,” the union held, calling also on the Department of Labour to ensure that workers were not forced to work under dangerous conditions.
Temperatures in Gauteng were expected to reach new records on Thursday and were expected to exceed 40 °C in some areas. The Western and Northern Cape provinces had also seen temperatures of near or above 40 °C this week.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation