A street cleaner works in Sham Shui Po during the hot weather. Photo: Elson LiAn NGO, Oxfam Hong Kong, has asked the city to do more to protect outdoor cleaners from heatstroke. A poll said that more than 86 per cent of these workers have suffered heat exhaustion because they do not know about the city’s heat warning system.
In May 2023, the Labour Department launched a three-level warning system. The signals are used to alert outdoor workers or those near heat sources to suspend work or rest when temperatures reach more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).
But Oxfam’s research team noted that cleaners seldom checked their phones at work. Since they were often unaware of the warnings, they kept working in the heat.
The team interviewed 200 workers last year; 172 of them said they had experienced heat exhaustion.
Oxfam Hong Kong also said it was talking to authorities about launching a trial run for a smartwatch. It tells users when a hot weather warning has been issued. The NGO made the watch with tech company WeWealth Electronic Innotech.
In March, the NGO gave 300 of its smartwatches to workers, who later reported they became more aware of their rest periods and the need to drink water thanks to alerts from the device.