The thermometer is currently scratching the 40-degree mark in many regions, and the temperatures are sometimes even higher. People who work outdoors are usually at their mercy without any protection. A trade union is now calling for a rethink of working hours.
The asphalt is 150 to 180 degrees Celsius hot when it is newly laid on roads and paths. If the sun then bangs out of the sky and causes a temperature of around 40 degrees, as it is these days, the human body quickly reaches its load limit. That is why the IG Bau union is demanding an extended lunch break on particularly hot days, as reported by “Bild”.
Following the example of many southern European countries, where public life often rests for several hours during the hottest days of midday and early afternoon, IG Bau board member Carsten Burckhardt demands: “We should try such a heat siesta, even if it’s just a first test run is.”
He sees the advantages in avoiding health risks such as heat strokes or skin cancer and in protecting against excessive ozone pollution. In this way, rising costs for health care can also be avoided.
As extremely hot days will continue to increase in the coming years, the trade unionist proposes a significantly longer lunch break for everyone involved in construction. He would like to compensate for the missed working hours on days with less high temperatures or by paying a kind of “bad weather money”, as is usual in winter.
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