Workers must be protected from extreme weather

Storm Éowyn caused mass chaos across Scotland on Friday, with schools, public transport, and football all being cancelled due to high winds.
However, many hospitality and retail businesses remained open despite a red weather warning from the Met Office. Now, Scottish Greens Co-Leader Lorna Slater MSP is calling on the UK Government to protect workers from extreme weather events.
Extreme weather events such as Storm Éowyn will only become more frequent with the looming climate breakdown. The Met Office's red weather warning is a rare precaution but one that many Scots could become more used to in coming years.
Despite advice to remain at home, many businesses forced their employees to travel to work during the storm. Many bartenders, shop workers, and waiters all had to brave 100mph winds to attend work.
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Scottish Greens Co-Leader Lorna Slater said:
“Red weather warnings are rare, but the damage that they do is severe. It’s appalling that any business forced workers to ignore government advice and come into work during one of the worst storms for a long time.
“We’ve seen the devastating impact of Storm Eowyn on communities across Scotland, with hundreds of thousands of homes losing power, railways brought to a standstill, and, tragically, the loss of life.
“As the climate crisis worsens, we will face increasing climate chaos, so we must be prepared to protect communities and workers against these extreme weather events.
“The best thing the UK government can do is take real action to tackle the climate crisis and reduce emissions, but they must also adapt to the damage already done.
“Governments must face the reality of climate breakdown and adapt legislation to protect workers; we need to see robust rights in place for workers to stay safe during red weather warnings by rejecting shifts or avoiding unnecessary travel.”