You have to take a cool shower twice a night
Early afternoon of June 1, Mr. Vang A Chay lay precariously in a "hot as a fire" rented room in Ngoc Gia village, Ngoc Hoa commune, Chuong My district, Hanoi. Sunday is a day to rest, although he really wants to sleep to regain his energy, he cannot sleep because it is too hot. The sweat was soaring. The electric fan ran at full capacity but could not repel the hot air in the rented room.
With only 2 million VND, the male worker left his hometown of Son La to work in Hanoi for a new living for half a month now. Having applied to work as an iron grinding worker in a company in Ngoc Hoa Industrial Cluster, Mr. Chay has not been able to get used to the hot sun like burning for the past few days. "For the past two days, the hot weather has made me only sleep on my stomach. Last night, I had to take a refreshing bath of water twice every time I woke up to sleep again" - Mr. Chay shared.
The rented room is old, with only a few basic items: Electric fans, rice cookers, hot water boilers, rice cookers.
"I had to spend nearly 1 million VND to buy these items. I couldn't buy air conditioners because I didn't have money. Moreover, I do not plan to work here for a long time, I only consider this a temporary place to live" - the male worker born in 1987 said.
Mr. Chay also had to pay a deposit of 500,000 VND for the house; cover food and living expenses. With no salary, when he spent 2 million VND to take care of himself, he had to borrow from a friend to have money to live on.
"Working hard, not being able to sleep well at rest due to the heat, greatly affecting health. But because I have no income in my hometown, I have to accept being away from home and suffering to make a living" - Mr. Chay shared.
Impact on workers' health, risk of work accidents
At 3:00 p.m. on June 1, the rooms in the above boarding house were all "closed" as if to prevent the hot sun from entering the room. Although the ceilings of the rooms are installed with heat-resistant corrugated iron, the air is still very stuffy.
Rent nearby, Sung Thi Tieu could not sleep in the heat as if scorching in the afternoon of 1.6. The house has only one door, the atmosphere is too stuffy, the sister and her compatriot's sister rented the same mat to spread the mat to the floor to reduce the heat, even though the motel room had a bed. Without air conditioning, the fan is the only means in the room to dispel the heat.
This female worker born in 2003 has just returned to Hanoi.
"The company pays me a basic salary of 5.5 million VND/month, in addition to allowances and overtime. However, because I have just started working, I have not received the salary for the first month of work" - Ms. mua said.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Dang Van Khanh (Department of Legal Policy and Labor Relations, Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) said that many cases of workers having to rent in Phibro-Cement-roofed rooms, with small areas, no air-conditioning, no air conditioning, and in-house cooking increase heat... will affect the health of workers.
"After working, workers return to the boarding house and only have a short break. If the boarding house is so hot, it can affect sleep, rest, and recovery eating, while the rest period at home should help workers recover and recover their health. If workers are sleep deprived and lead to fatigue the next morning, it can lead to poor operations, even snoring, risk of work accidents, reduce labor productivity... said Mr. Khanh.
