At 3 pm on June 25, the scorching sun shone down on a construction site in Ha Dong ward (Hanoi). Mr. Tran Van Toan (from Phu Tho) was sweaty, his face was bright red and he only dared to work in shade. "At least after 4 pm he dared to go out to the sun. Sweat kept getting soaked and then dry, I felt like my whole body wanted to smoke because of the heat," Mr. Toan said.
About every 15 minutes, Mr. Toan would run out to a bucket of lemonade with ice sugar and drink a full gulp of the large glass of water. Not only Mr. Toan, more than 20 people at the construction site were grimacing because of the intense heat.
Mr. Toan said that on hot sunny days, workers contribute money to buy soft drinks, ice, tea, sugarcane juice... On average, each person spends about 100,000 VND. Regarding food, the group of workers hires a woman to cook, most choose to eat crab soup with a little simple food.
“I know that construction workers have to eat and drink fully to have the strength to work, but the heat is too hot to swallow. Houses at the construction site only have 2 air conditioners installed at both ends, the room is large so it doesn't penetrate. Not to mention, the corrugated iron roof all day in the sun is even more stuffy. Every evening we water the roof thoroughly before daring to crawl in, but sometimes the feeling in the room is hotter than outside,” Mr. Toan lamented.
Mr. Toan added that the income of construction workers is quite good, but the conditions for eating and staying are very poor. Regarding food, the group of workers send one person to the market to cook rice or hire a person specializing in serving meals. Food is bought at the wholesale market nearby.
Workers are not picky, cooks often go to the market late to buy cheap food. We also don't know the origin. To be honest, eating without stomach pain is okay," Mr. Toan said.
Mr. Dam Van Phu is currently working as a worker for a carpentry workshop in Phuong Liet ward (Hanoi). He said that on hot sunny days, the carpentry workshop is loaded with a lot of wood, accumulating a lot of sawdust, so the air is thick.
It's very hot but you still have to wear a mask, without a mask you can't breathe. The air in the workshop is always stuffy, suffocating to the point of suffocation. The heat from the roof combined with the smell of solvent, PU paint and wood dust flying everywhere creates a thick mixture, clinging tightly to the skin stained with carpenter's sweat," Mr. Phu said.
Mr. Phu said that in poor working conditions, the health of workers is eroded every day. The workshop is large but only has a few large industrial fans running at full capacity. The fans are not only not cool but also blow hot air mixed with wood dust straight into the face, making eyes and nose always stinging. Due to frequently standing at the cutting and shaving machines under a temperature of nearly 40 degrees Celsius, Mr. Phu and his colleagues sweated profusely.
My mind is often dizzy, chest tightness due to lack of oxygen, just a minute of distraction and loss of concentration can cause a workplace accident immediately. Working for about 1 hour, I felt exhausted, had to rest for a while before continuing work...", Mr. Phu shared.
According to Mr. Phu, due to the workers' proposal, the workshop owner installed additional mist fans, provided more cool water and adjusted working hours earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon so that carpenters could reduce pressure and maintain their health through the hot season.
