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Hong Kong aiming to revamp heat-stress warning system by end of this month
Labour minister Chris Sun says authorities adjusting system after it failed to trigger higher alert during record-breaking temperatures
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Hong Kong authorities aim to complete a revamp of the city’s heat-stress warning system by the end of this month, the labour minister has said, following criticism that the alert level was not increased during record-breaking temperatures.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Tuesday that changes to the Heat Stress at Work Warning system would require thorough preparatory work at several levels.
This would include setting the system’s activation thresholds and determining how alerts would be triggered to ensure seamless operation, he said.
Sun added that any adjustments to optimise the system must address the challenges posed by climate change in Hong Kong.
“Our current goal is to complete this work as quickly as possible, make any necessary adjustments promptly and put them into practice,” he said.
“I have discussed this with the Labour Department and the Hong Kong Observatory, asking them to spare no effort so that we can present the optimised plan to everyone by the end of August.”
The Labour Department recently came under criticism after its warning system remained at the lowest level despite a peak temperature of 36.9 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) being recorded at the Observatory’s headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui on August 9 – the highest such reading since records began in 1884.
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