These are the professions that will reduce hours of their workday this summer due to heat waves

The Council of Ministers has approved the measure, which Yolanda Díaz, the Minister of Labor, has already advanced, to reduce the working hours of some professionals in summer. The extraordinary heat situation experienced last year left an increase of more than 4,800 deaths attributable to the temperature nationwide, according to estimates from the daily mortality monitoring system of the Carlos III Health Institute..

These heat waves are no longer isolated events, since, as experts on climate and climate change have been warning for years, they are going to become increasingly frequent episodes in Spain. This 2023, temperatures typical of summer have already been registered in the months of March or April, which has led to bringing forward the implementation of the National Plan for Preventive Actions of the Effects of Temperatures on Health by 15 days.. It will start working on May 15 and will run until September 15. In addition, cities like Madrid have also advanced the opening date of the swimming pools.

The Ministry of Labor indicates that this context of high temperatures has cost the life, among other dramatic cases, of a 60-year-old worker while he was fulfilling his labor obligations in street cleaning tasks in the streets of the Vallecas neighborhood, in Madrid and another worker from the field of Murcia, in Lorca, who did not even have water or any means of hydration at his disposal.

Workers who will reduce hours of their workday

Thus, to protect workers, the Government obliges companies to implement measures to preserve the health of their employees against any risk related to adverse weather events, including extreme temperatures.. These measures will be based on an occupational risk assessment that will take into account both the characteristics of the task and the individual characteristics of the professionals..

Therefore, the new norm prohibits the development of certain tasks during the hours of the day in which adverse meteorological phenomena such as a heat wave occur, without prejudice to the adoption of appropriate individual protection measures.. When Aemet issues an orange or red level warning for extreme heat, working hours must be reduced or modified.

The reduction in working hours in the face of heat waves will affect professionals who carry out their work on the street. Those who suffer the most from high temperatures in summer are construction workers, public works, agriculture, street cleaning or gardeners. These sectors have registered more deaths due to heat. This measure would also include the hospitality or parcel transport sector, as well as food delivery people, postmen or tour guides..