This summer’s heat persists, and if current predictions are correct, it’s going to stay this way until the end of next month. Finding ways to keep cool remains the priority for both humans and animal kind, while there is a blessing of a kind for those who can’t.
This past Saturday, 23 July, was “Major Heat” (大暑), according to the 24 solar terms, also known in Chinese as “Jieqi”.
Hence we should spare a thought at this time for the animals in Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo. Reporters for the Yangtze Evening News who popped in to see how they are faring found the Zoo’s number 1 new attraction to be a large pond.
There, tigers had taken to cooling off by going for a dip. They were then joined by monkeys and other animals, much to the delight of visitors.
In the giant pandas’ enclosure, zoo administrators have the air conditioning running non stop at 26 degrees Celsius, in order that China’s national treasure may continue to sleep away most of its existence. Other measures have also been taken to cool large animals, such as elephants to help them withstand the current high temperatures.
Back in the human world, the incidence of heat stroke continues to rise. Many cases have also occurred in working environments. As such, sufferers are entitled to a declare work-related injury and enjoy the appropriate insurance benefits.
But few bother to do so, while there also remain other barriers for those wishing to make such a claim.
As The Paper reported this morning, data released by Shaoxing City’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Zhejiang Province, in the past 2 years, only 11 people in Shaoxing applied for occupational disease diagnosis due to heatstroke. But in 2021 alone, the City reported 556 cases of heatstroke.
Elsewhere, in the now-infamous Wuhan, a total of 572 cases of heat stroke were reported in 2019, but only one worker applied for occupational disease diagnosis.
Part of the problem is that many are unaware of their rights in this regard. The other is the work they do or the kinds of contracts they do or do not sign.
Zhang Zhiyou is a lawyer with Beijing DeHeng Law Firm. “To diagnose occupational diseases, we must first confirm labour relations, which is difficult for many construction workers, as well as new forms of employment, such as couriers and takeout workers”, Zhang analysed.
Take the recent case of a construction worker who fell ill due to heat stroke on his way home from work. Taken to hospital, he died in the early morning of the next day. Lacking a labour contract, it could not be identified as a work-related injury. The family reached a private settlement with the man’s employer.
Finally, the case of an electrician who suffered heatstroke during work on a signal tower in Wuxi of our very own Jiangsu Province in the past few days. For reasons unclear, the man became trapped inside the tower some 40 metres in the air, while the temperature soared to 40 degrees.
Happily, local firefighters were soon on the scene, this time using their ladders for a purpose other than that for which they were originally intended. The worker was rescued safely and handed over to medical staff for treatment.