CCOO has submitted almost fifty complaints to the Labor Inspectorate for non-compliance with heat risk prevention in Seville.
This was confirmed by the Secretary of Trade Union Actions of the CCOO of Seville, Sergio Montero, and Carmen Tirado, of the Occupational Health Department of the CCOO of Seville, in the balance of the union’s actions during the summer months.
In a press release, CCOO pointed out that more than 60% of the reported violations occurred in the construction sector, mainly due to the extension of the working day beyond the limits stipulated in the agreement in the summer months. “Thanks to collective bargaining, intensive working hours are the main weapon against the heat in this sector, which sets the end of work at 2:30 p.m. But there were more than 30 companies that kept the workers in the scorching sun. “At that time, they had already died once and were reported,” Montero explained.
CCOO wants to focus on the fact that due to climate change and the extreme heat waves that are becoming more common in the province – “according to Aemet, 37% of the heat waves this summer occurred in Seville” – there are other sectors such as transport, health, commerce , industry and public services such as postal services, education and justice are affected by a lack of measures to protect workers.
Among the most striking cases this summer were “the cases discovered in the delivery vehicles of Amazon subcontractors, where the deliverers and deliverers were exposed to temperatures of 63°C; at the post office, forcing staff to deliver by 5 p.m. with a red notice due to high temperatures; or the 48 °C recorded at the headquarters of the Courts of Alcalá de Guadaíra.
“Companies and administrations must closely monitor health conditions in the workplace and develop specific plans for the various activities in order to balance the activity with the safety of workers in view of the thermal stress to which they are exposed. It is important to promote a culture of prevention and create action protocols for the different levels of risk,” said Tirado.
The Secretary of Trade Union Actions of the CCOO of Seville has assured that “we are observing the lack of culture of prevention in matters of safety and health of workers, as well as the situation of defenselessness in which they find themselves. Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen the resources of the Seville Labor Inspectorate, which will allow for closer monitoring of non-compliant companies.”
The Occupational Health and Safety Division of CCOO in Seville calls on companies to come together to negotiate in order to establish protocols of action in the face of different levels of risk, putting the health of workers at the center”, recalling that the CCOO headquarters is “a…” Climate protection, open to everyone who needs it.”
