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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Arthur Neslen and Matthew Taylor

Unions in Europe press for new worker protections to counter heat stress

A worker with a green and white sun umbrella in a cherry picker
A construction worker uses a sun umbrella while working from an elevated platform in Perugia, Italy. Photograph: Michael Nguyen/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

As Europe’s sweltering summer continues, trades unions are mounting a push for new laws to counter deadly heat stress that is linked to an estimated 230 workplace deaths a year.

This year’s toll may be even higher, with 1,300 excess European deaths already connected to the June heatwave by the World Health Organization, and other estimates running as high as 20,000.

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