Laborers find ways to cope with severe weather

Boldly" spending money to buy air conditioner shirts

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lanh - a part-time worker at a civil construction site in Van Trai village, Thuong Tin commune (Hanoi) shared that for the past 2 days, due to rising temperatures, her morning shift usually starts from 5:30 am and ends before 10:00 am; afternoon shift starts from 3 pm and ends at 6:30 pm.

I spent 850,000 VND to buy a air-conditioned shirt to fight the heat. Even though the shirt has a fan, every shift, I have to change the inner working shirt twice because the temperature is too high" - Ms. Lanh said.

Not only Ms. Lanh, many of her colleagues also have to spend money to buy air-conditioned clothes because there is no roof at work.

In addition to air conditioning clothes, Ms. Lanh said that the group of workers spends the most money on buying soft drinks. "The whole project has 13 people, each day it costs 4kg of sugar, 1kg of lemon and about 100,000 VND of ice" - Ms. Lanh said.

Due to the intense heat, at noon, the group of workers switched to ordering vermicelli and pho instead of cooking themselves.

Mr. Bui Ngoc Tu - construction team leader - said that in the past 2 days, he has proactively adjusted the work schedule, minimizing the time workers have to work directly in the sun. Things such as cutting iron, cutting bricks, mixing mortar are brought to shady areas; outdoor work is only performed for a short time in the early morning.

I assign work so that workers do not lose strength. Anyone who sees that their health is not stable must report immediately to take timely leave. In the summer of 2025, there were workers who tried hard under the hot sun, suffered heat shock, fainted and had to be taken to the emergency room, so we are very cautious" - Mr. Tu said.

Proactively strengthen resistance

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (22 years old, Phuong Liet ward, Hanoi City) is a technology delivery staff.

In the midst of prolonged hot weather, Mr. Hung still regularly travels on many routes to deliver goods to customers. The work makes him almost have to work outdoors all day, facing direct heat and the heat blowing from the road surface.

At many times, the heat from the road surface along with dust and the large number of vehicles make the feeling of stuffiness even worse. These days, just after delivering the first order, I am exhausted, my clothes are soaked in sweat" - Mr. Hung said.

Mr. Hung said that the most difficult thing is when stopping to wait for a red light in the sun, the heat from the road surface blows directly on you.

To maintain strength, he always prepares drinking water, cold towels, sunscreen and brings a mini heat container. In addition to chilled filtered water, he buys more sugarcane juice and fruit juice to replenish energy. When he feels tired, he stops to rest, not trying to continue working.

Despite the greater pressure in hot sunny days, Mr. Hung still tries to maintain his work and deliver goods on time.

With my job, the harsher the weather, the more I have to try," he said.

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