The President of the Region, Alessandra Todde, must issue an ordinance that in Sardinia – a region classified among the hottest in Europe – prohibits work during the hottest hours of the day: «The rise in temperatures and the strong impact on the health and safety of workers engaged in public and private construction sites, and in all work activities in the construction industry, requires urgent intervention». The regional secretaries Feneal Uil, Filca Cisl and Fillea Cgil are requesting this in a letter.
"The construction workers," wrote Gianni Olla, Marco Ambu and Erika Collu, "are a category highly exposed to dangerous working conditions, especially with the arrival of the summer season and with prolonged exposure to the sun, which puts life itself at risk."
Supporting the appeal are studies by the scientific community that certify the impact of climate change on health and safety at work: «Numerous epidemiological studies have shown how working in conditions of excessive exposure to heat not only exposes workers to direct health risks such as heat stress and heat stroke, which also manifest themselves with loss of consciousness, but also increases the probability of injury due to compromised physical and cognitive conditions and, therefore, the reduced ability to deal with unexpected and sudden events».
Fillea, Filca and Feneal recall that at a national level there are more than 4000 accidents per year attributable to extreme temperatures with a cost that approaches 50 million euros if we consider all the insurance and protection costs for the injured. «If you think about the increasingly warm climate of Sardinia, it is easy to imagine what could happen if a remedy were not found immediately».
Hence the urgency of an intervention by the Region "for the adoption of the ordinance as a fundamental action to prevent exposure during the hottest hours".
(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)