Hong Kong's revamped heat stress warning system criticized for lack of worker protection

Hong Kong’s outdoor workers could still lack adequate rest under the revamped heat stress warning system, a lawmaker and a construction industry representative have said, adding that work breaks triggered by higher alerts are not protected by law.

The response followed the Labour Department’s announcement on Thursday that it had updated the Heat Stress at Work Warning system to better safeguard workers, after the mechanism was criticised for a lack of higher-tier alerts during record-breaking temperatures earlier this month.

“Aside from modifying the triggering mechanism, the threshold requirements for the highest heat stress warning signal remain high,” he said.

Lam cited that all non-essential outdoor workers were required to stop working regardless of their workload when either the No 9 or 10 typhoon warning was issued.

The total duration when highest heat stress warnings were active in any given year could be even less than when the highest typhoon signals were in effect, he said.