France shuts schools, Italy limits work outdoors in ‘exceptional’ European heatwave<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nEven before the march, Barcelona\u2019s City Hall issued new rules requiring the four companies contracted to clean its streets to give workers uniforms made of breathable material, a hat and sun cream. When temperatures reach 34 C (93 F), street cleaners now must have hourly water breaks and routes that allow time in the shade. Cleaning work will be suspended when temperatures hit 40 C (104 F).<\/p>\n
Protesters said none of the clothing changes have been put into effect and workers are punished for allegedly slacking in the heat. They said supervisors would sanction workers when they took breaks or slowed down.<\/p>\n
Workers marched behind a banner reading \u201cExtreme Heat Is Also Workplace Violence!” and demanded better summer clothing and more breaks during the sweltering summers. They complained that they have to buy their own water.<\/p>\n
FCC Medio Ambiente, the company that employed the deceased worker, declined to comment on the protesters’ complaints. In a previous statement, it offered its condolences to Aguilar’s family and said that it trains its staff to work in hot weather.<\/p>\n
In Greece, regulations for outdoor labor such as construction work and food delivery includes mandatory breaks. Employers are also advised \u2014 but not mandated \u2014 to adjust shifts to keep workers out of the midday sun.<\/p>\n
Greece requires heat-safety inspections during hotter months but the country’s largest labor union, the GSEE, is calling for year-round monitoring.<\/p>\n
European labor unions and the United Nations\u2019 International Labor Organization are also pushing for a more coordinated international approach to handling the impact of rising temperatures on workers.<\/p>\n
“Heat stress is an invisible killer,\u201d the ILO said in a report last year on how heat hurts workers.<\/p>\n
It called for countries to increase worker heat protections, saying Europe and Central Asia have experienced the largest spike in excessive worker heat exposure this century.<\/p>\n
In Athens, grill cook Thomas Siamandas shaves meat from a spit in the threshold of the famed Bairaktaris Restaurant. He is out of the sun, but the 38 C (100.4 F) temperature recorded on July 16 was even tougher to endure while standing in front of souvlaki burners.<\/p>\n
Grill cooks step into air-conditioned rooms when possible and always keep water within reach. Working with a fan pointed at his feet, the 32-year-old said staying cool means knowing when to take a break, before the heat overwhelms you.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough, but we take precautions: We sit down when we can, take frequent breaks and stay hydrated. We drink plenty of water \u2014 really a lot,\u201d said Siamandas, who has worked at the restaurant for eight years. \u201cYou have to find a way to adjust to the conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Massimo De Filippis spends hours in the blazing sun each day sharing the history of vestal virgins, dueling gladiators and powerful emperors as tourists shuffle through Rome\u2019s Colosseum and Forum.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it is tough. I am not going to lie,\u201d the 45-year-old De Filippis said as he wiped sweat from his face. \u201cMany times it is actually dangerous to go into the Roman Forum between noon and 3:30 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n
At midday on July 22, he led his group down the Forum\u2019s Via Sacra, the central road in ancient Rome. They paused at a fountain to rinse their faces and fill their bottles.<\/p>\n
Dehydrated tourists often pass out here in the summer heat, said Francesca Duimich, who represents 300 Roman tour guides in Italy\u2019s national federation, Federagit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Forum is a pit; There is no shade, there is no wind,\u201d Duimich said. \u201cBeing there at 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. in the summer heat means you will feel unwell.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, guides have bombarded her with complaints about the heat. In recent weeks, Federagit requested that the state\u2019s Colosseum Archaeological Park, which oversees the Forum, open an hour earlier so tours can get a jump-start before the heat becomes punishing. The request has been to no avail, so far.<\/p>\n
The park\u2019s press office said that administrators are working to move the opening up by 30 minutes and will soon schedule visits after sunset.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cruel heat is baking southern Europe as the continent slips deeper into summer. In homes and offices, air conditioning is sweet relief. But under the scorching sun, outdoor labor can be grueling, brutal, occasionally even deadly. A street sweeper died in Barcelona during a heat wave last month and, according to a labor union, 12…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}