THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced that it is granting its field personnel with the “Heat Stroke Break.”
MMDA Chairman Atty. Romando Artes signed the memorandum circular re-implementing the “heat stroke break” policy where field personnel such as MMDA on-duty traffic enforcers and street sweepers are allowed to leave their posts and will get an additional 30-minute “heat stroke break.”
This is to protect them from illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke and heat cramps due to the severe heat wave that the country may experience this summer season.
For traffic enforcers who work the 5 am to 1 pm shift, the prescribed “heat stroke break” is from 10 am to 10:30 am or 10:30 am to 11 am; for those working the 1 pm to 9 pm shift, the break time shall be observed from 2:30 pm to 3 pm or 3 pm to 3:30 pm; for those working from 6 am to 2 pm, the prescribed “heat stroke break” is from 11 am to 11:30 am or 11:30 am to 12 noon; and for the 2 pm to 10 pm shift, the break time shall be observed from 3 pm to 3:30 pm or 3:30 pm to 4 pm.
For street sweepers who work from 6 am to 2 pm shift, the prescribed “heat stroke break” is from 11 am to 11:30 am or 11:30 am to 12 noon; for 7 am to 4 pm shift, they shall observe 12 noon to 1 pm regular break time; and for those working from 11 am to 7 pm shift, the break time shall be observed from 2:30 pm to 3:00 pm or 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
“The heat stroke break shall be done alternately by those who are assigned in a particular area to maintain visibility of traffic enforcers and street sweepers and to ensure field operations are not hampered,” said Artes.
Field personnel may also avail themselves of additional 15-minute break time in case the heat index or the “human discomfort index” in Metro Manila reaches 40 degrees Celsius and above. As defined by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), heat index gives the “apparent” temperature, or what humans perceive or feel as the temperature affecting their body.
The heat stroke break shall take effect until May 31, 2022.