The exceptional wave of hot that has invested our country makes everything more difficult, too work. To protect workers from this challenge, theInail has drawn up a Decalogue containing important indications for tackling work in the event of high temperatures, in line with the provisions of the INPS since 2017: if the heat exceeds 35 degrees, both in the case of actual and perceived temperature, work can be suspended and request the ordinary redundancy fund.
Working with record heat: above 35 degrees you can ask for the Cig
Le temperatures above 35 degrees, which prevent the carrying out of work phases in places that cannot be protected from the sun or which involve the use of materials or the carrying out of processes which cannot withstand the strong heat, may give the right to the Ordinary redundancy fund. And this is true even if the real temperature has a lower value than the one mentioned: the parameter that matters is in fact that of the perceived temperatures, since what matters are the perceived temperatures, which can be obtained from the weather bulletins when they exceed the real temperature.
Who can apply? Interested in Cig question for too hot they are all those workers dealing with tasks particularly exposed to heat risk: such as road construction workers. In any case, all those jobs carried out in places that cannot be protected from the sun or that involve the use of materials or carrying out processes that cannot withstand the strong heat.
How to apply for the redundancy fund for heat?
Based on the Inps-Inail handbook of 2022, it is the company that must submit an application, to which the technical report must be attached, specifying:
- days of suspension or reduction of working activity;
- the type of processing in progress on the same days.
The company that requests the ordinary redundancy fund for heat above 35 degrees is not required to produce declarations certifying the extent of the temperature, nor to produce weather reports.
How to work in this heat? Inail provisions
The decalogue also provides further indications to be able to combat the record heat in the workplace: from the rescheduling of non-priority activities, to the water available for workers exposed to other temperatures, passing through shaded or air-conditioned areas for breaks. It also calls for the alternation of shifts among workers in order to minimize individual exposure to heat or direct sun, and the interruption of work in extreme cases when the risk of heat-related illnesses is very high. Particularly exposed to the repercussions of high temperatures are workers who have pre-existing diseases such as diabetes.
A person responsible for monitoring the climatic conditions
Among the recommendations is to locate a responsible, present in the workplace, for the surveillance of climatic conditions, trained on the appropriate use of the heat index and on the risk indicators of thermal stress, in charge of implementing specific protection measures in the event of the onset of stress conditions thermal.
Too hot to work: mutual control
Employers are also asked to “promote the mutual control of workers especially at times of the day characterized by particularly high temperatures or, in general, during heat waves. In the event of the onset of signs and symptoms of heat-related pathologies, a close companion can call 118 (or the single number 112) and provide first aid".
Training for workers
La training it serves to increase workers' awareness of the effects of heat stress and the prevention and protection measures to be adopted. It must include recommendations on clothes preferably to wear (light clothes in natural fibers, breathable and light in color), on the importance of maintaining an excellent state of hydration and a balanced diet, on individual risk factors and the management of disease symptoms from heat, how to prevent its onset and how to recognize the symptoms. It is important that training is done in a language that workers understand.
Protection of health and safety at work
Just today, Wednesday 19 July, the training 64-hour national programme, which as of February 2023 has involved around 25 Workers' Representatives for Territorial Safety (RLST) of the Federation of Metalworkers of Cisl, coming from all over the national territory, in mainly remote training sessions on the issues of protecting health and safety in the workplace with particular reference to the limits, obligations and sanctions in the event of violations.
The course was promoted by the National Fim Cisl, with resources allocated by the OPNM - National Metalworkers Joint Body, the sponsorship of the Confederal Cisl Department and the didactic and organizational support of the National Ial and involved important experts of the Cisl, university researchers and representatives of Inail.
For President Ial Stefano Mastro Vincenzo and the Fim Secretary General Robert Benaglia the initiative once again confirms the joint commitment of Fim, Cisl and Ial, on the issues of protecting safety in the workplace and the strategic investment in training to strengthen skills and the role of representation in the various working contexts, especially on key issues of prevention and protection of health and safety in the workplace.
