Lanzarote is under an orange warning for high temperatures this Thursday. The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) predicts that maximums of 37 degrees may be reached in inland and southern areas of the island. Heat episodes are becoming more extensive, extreme and frequent due to climate change and forced the Government of Spain to adapt the labor risk law just two months ago.
When should the company adapt the conditions in the face of heat episodes?
Last May, the Government of Spain modified the legal framework of the Labor Risk Law to guarantee the protection of the population against episodes of extreme risk due to rising temperatures and other adverse phenomena.
As of May 13, when the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) establishes warnings of orange or red level phenomena, companies are obliged to adapt working conditions, including the reduction or modification of schedules to avoid the hours in which the warning is maintained.
These included the prohibition of "developing certain tasks" against risks related to adverse meteorological phenomena during the hours of the day in which these are planned.
These measures are adapted within the Spanish Occupational Safety and Health Strategy 2023-2027 and the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, related to the effects of climate change.
"The consequences of these meteorological phenomena are already alarming at the present time," assured the decree law approved by the Council of Ministers.
Outdoor work
The decree-law reveals that when work is carried out outdoors and cannot be done in enclosed places, adequate protection measures must be taken against any risk related to adverse meteorological phenomena, including extreme temperatures.
For this, occupational risks, the characteristics of the task to be developed, those of the worker and the state of the person must be evaluated. "The measures will include the prohibition of carrying out tasks during the hours in which the phenomena occur" in cases where the protection of the worker cannot be guaranteed.
Orange and red warnings oblige companies to guarantee this protection and adapt working conditions.
National Plan of Preventive Actions of the Effects of Excess Temperatures on Health of 2023 of the Ministry of Health
