Motion 83
Campaign for Climate Hazards Health & Safety Training
 “That this Congress notes that since April 2023 workers in Scotland and the UK have been battered by extreme weather events from a June heatwave which saw temperatures in posties vans soar to 45 degrees centigrade to Storm Babet in November which resulted in loss of life, long term evacuations from homes and the closure of transport links to North East Scotland for 4 days.
“The trade union movement in Scotland must work together to identify these climate health and safety hazards and campaign to make sure employers are including these hazards in workplace risk assessments and annual reports.
“The 2021 STUC project with Adaption Scotland, the Scottish Hazards Committee and UNISON Adaptation Scotland: ‘Climate Hazards & Resilience in the Workplace’ must be seen as the first step until all employers are signed up to regularly assessing and responding to these risks.
“Congress recognises that climate hazards are a growing feature of all workplaces. There is a critical need for mandatory climate hazards in the workplace risk assessments and annual reporting across all employers as part of the Fair Work agreement with the Scottish Government.
“Congress calls on the General Council to:
- Encourage affiliates to engage fully with members, public and private sector employers for the adoption of workplace based climate hazards risks assessments reviewed annually;
- Campaign for a specific maximum working temperature law, including the ability to withdraw labour if workplace temperatures surpass 30°C (27°C if doing strenuous work in PPE);
- Support, reviewing, updating and providing training to workplace health and safety reps on the Adaption Scotland Climate Hazards and Resilience in the workplace resource; and
- Campaign for amendments to health and safety legislation to support the mandatory use of workplace climate hazards risk assessments and publicly available annual review reports.”
Mover: Aberdeen Trades Union Council
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