The Labour Department announced today that it will introduce the Guidance Notes on Prevention of Heat Stroke at Work and Heat Stress at Work Warning on May 15.

The guidance aims to assist employers in formulating preventive and control measures to reduce the risk of heatstroke posed to employees in hot environments.

At a press briefing this morning, the department's Deputy Commissioner (Occupational Safety & Health) Vincent Fung said the guidance notes can serve as an important reference for employers and employees.

“No matter whether it is our occupational safety staff or occupational hygienists, they will carry out inspections from time to time. According to our records, we conducted about 26,000 inspections per year in the past two years and identified a number of places where we issued warnings or improvement notices.

“I think inspection is one thing. Another important thing is to carry out more publicity work to raise the profile of the importance of heatstroke and to encourage people, no matter if they are employers or employees, to be aware of the consequences of getting heat stress and heatstroke so that they can take preventive measures to avoid the occurrence of such occasions.”

To enhance the understanding of employers and staff of the level of heat stress in outdoor or indoor working environments without air-conditioning under hot weather, the department will introduce three levels of the Heat Stress at Work Warning based on the Hong Kong Heat Index.

The warning levels are amber, red and black, indicating that heat stress in certain working environments is high, very high and extremely high respectively.

Members of the public can receive heat stress warning notifications via the GovHK Notifications or MyObservatory mobile applications.

The department also reminded citizens that since the nature and requirements of different industries and job positions vary, employers and employees should make reference to the guidance notes in advance and adopt a risk-based and consultative approach to devise reasonable and mutually acceptable work-rest schedules under different levels of the Heat Stress at Work Warning.

Click here for more details on the prevention of heatstroke at work.