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Heroes toil in heat to keep Hangzhou humming
By Wu Huixin,Xu Wenwen and Luo Hanlin |
July 31, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN super hot weather hits Hangzhou, most people hurry indoors so they can take advantage of air-conditioning at work, at home and in shops. But for some people, that's not possible, work must go on in the pitiless sun. These include traffic police, garbage collectors, community security patrolmen, delivery men, construction workers and lifeguards, to name a few.
Those who have it the worst must be the garbage collectors because of the stench and repulsive debris they handle (they have special suits and masks, hot in the sun). Those who have it the best might be the delivery men, since they go inside shady or air conditioned buildings. And the lifeguards might seem to have it good, but they can't just take a dip when they like, they are bound to stay on their platform for their shift, except for breaks.
Everybody drinks water like crazy to prevent dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and stroke, which are life-threatening. Hats, sunscreen and sometimes Chinese herbal inhalers are used. Mercifully, they get occasional breaks but no one get a real lunch hour.
Today Shanghai Daily talks with three people who work outdoors for most of the day.
(This is the first of a two-part article featuring those people who must work in the pitiless sun. The second part appears tomorrow.)
Huangfu Qing traffic cop
Huangfu Qing has been standing at the intersection of Tiyuchang and Zhonghe roads for around two hours and he needs to continue standing there, right on the asphalt without a platform or umbrella, for another five hours.
When Shanghai Daily visits, it's morning peak.
Huangfu wears a short-sleeved uniform, police cap with visor and white gloves. Sweat is pouring down his deeply tanned face, which has turned red from the heat. He's raising his arms, halting some traffic, urging other traffic on.
"I am used to it, like all other policemen," Huangfu says. "Almost all of us have suffered from sunburn and peeling skin. I don't think my skin color will ever be the same again."
On this day, Huangfu needs to spend seven hours in the sun. On Hangzhou's high-volume roads, traffic police work at 7am-3pm shift; the later shift runs from 3pm to 10pm.
Since Huangfu belongs to the Wulin division, which covers the city's major commercial centers, its traffic police usually work overtime on holidays and sales seasons.
"Being a traffic policeman was my dream in childhood, so I can serve people every day and they respect me in return," he says.
To prevent heat-related ailments, all policemen are equipped with plenty of water, sunscreen and ageratum liquid, a traditional Chinese medicine treatment that is used to help prevent illness.
Traffic cops have to be physically healthy since they work under brutal sun, high street and inhale a large amounts of toxic exhaust fumes. Sometimes they can feel dizzy, angry at motorists and distressed, and when that happens they chat with each to cheer up.
Every quarter psychologists are invited by the Hangzhou traffic authorities to give talks to traffic police on staying calm and dealing with anger and stress.
Tian Huilin garbage collector
The road surface reaches 61 degrees Celsius at 2pm - one hates to imagine the stench of rotting garbage that collectors must remove from large receptacles, by shoveling it into garbage trucks.
Cleaner Tian Huilin, aged 37, is standing at the 2-meter-high door of a community receptacle, filled with refuse.
The garbage chamber on Yile Road contains garbage collected from trash bins in nearby communities.
Every day Tian and his team visit more than 10 garbage receptacles in three blocks and transport it all to the Tianziling landfill in northern Hangzhou.
Every day Tian gets up at 3am and makes his collections twice a day. Every day he handles 15 to 20 tons of garbage.
"The job is hard, very hard, but I feel satisfied because I see the city get clean," he tells Shanghai Daily.
The city employes around 1,505 garbage collectors like Tian in Hangzhou. Some work from 2am to 11am without a lunch break, some work from 4am to 5pm. They do take short breaks.
Work is dangerous because garbage releases some toxic fumes and others that are disgusting, and some people leave sharp objects and blades in the garbage. Hangzhou Environmental Group gives every collector water-resistant clothes, rubber gloves, mask, helmet and boots lined with metal for protection.
Last week, Hangzhou Environmental Group has opened a well-equipped clinic at Tianziling landfill in cooperation with Hangzhou No. 3 Hospital which sends doctors to give medical treatment for those cleaners three days a week.
Xie Shuping residential guard
It's 11:30am and security guard Xie Shuping steps into the sun. The 55-year-old works at the Sandalwood Garden Community on Jianguo Road E., a residential area of 110,000 square meters and 605 families. Mostly Xie stands in a sentry box. Sometimes he must leave the shade to direct cars and patrol around the community.
Last year the Sichuan Province native became a security guard, one of 25 at the community who work from 8am to 7pm, or from 7pm to 8am.
"I like the job, the flexible schedule lets me manage my time to do volunteer work," Xie says, adding that he ails the elderly, donates blood and does many other useful things.
As the temperature soars, Xie receives a high-temperature allowance from his company. Watermelon and icy green bean soup are also send to the guards, courtesy of the company, for their tea breaks.
Those who have it the worst must be the garbage collectors because of the stench and repulsive debris they handle (they have special suits and masks, hot in the sun). Those who have it the best might be the delivery men, since they go inside shady or air conditioned buildings. And the lifeguards might seem to have it good, but they can't just take a dip when they like, they are bound to stay on their platform for their shift, except for breaks.
Everybody drinks water like crazy to prevent dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and stroke, which are life-threatening. Hats, sunscreen and sometimes Chinese herbal inhalers are used. Mercifully, they get occasional breaks but no one get a real lunch hour.
Today Shanghai Daily talks with three people who work outdoors for most of the day.
(This is the first of a two-part article featuring those people who must work in the pitiless sun. The second part appears tomorrow.)
Huangfu Qing traffic cop
Huangfu Qing has been standing at the intersection of Tiyuchang and Zhonghe roads for around two hours and he needs to continue standing there, right on the asphalt without a platform or umbrella, for another five hours.
When Shanghai Daily visits, it's morning peak.
Huangfu wears a short-sleeved uniform, police cap with visor and white gloves. Sweat is pouring down his deeply tanned face, which has turned red from the heat. He's raising his arms, halting some traffic, urging other traffic on.
"I am used to it, like all other policemen," Huangfu says. "Almost all of us have suffered from sunburn and peeling skin. I don't think my skin color will ever be the same again."
On this day, Huangfu needs to spend seven hours in the sun. On Hangzhou's high-volume roads, traffic police work at 7am-3pm shift; the later shift runs from 3pm to 10pm.
Since Huangfu belongs to the Wulin division, which covers the city's major commercial centers, its traffic police usually work overtime on holidays and sales seasons.
"Being a traffic policeman was my dream in childhood, so I can serve people every day and they respect me in return," he says.
To prevent heat-related ailments, all policemen are equipped with plenty of water, sunscreen and ageratum liquid, a traditional Chinese medicine treatment that is used to help prevent illness.
Traffic cops have to be physically healthy since they work under brutal sun, high street and inhale a large amounts of toxic exhaust fumes. Sometimes they can feel dizzy, angry at motorists and distressed, and when that happens they chat with each to cheer up.
Every quarter psychologists are invited by the Hangzhou traffic authorities to give talks to traffic police on staying calm and dealing with anger and stress.
Tian Huilin garbage collector
The road surface reaches 61 degrees Celsius at 2pm - one hates to imagine the stench of rotting garbage that collectors must remove from large receptacles, by shoveling it into garbage trucks.
Cleaner Tian Huilin, aged 37, is standing at the 2-meter-high door of a community receptacle, filled with refuse.
The garbage chamber on Yile Road contains garbage collected from trash bins in nearby communities.
Every day Tian and his team visit more than 10 garbage receptacles in three blocks and transport it all to the Tianziling landfill in northern Hangzhou.
Every day Tian gets up at 3am and makes his collections twice a day. Every day he handles 15 to 20 tons of garbage.
"The job is hard, very hard, but I feel satisfied because I see the city get clean," he tells Shanghai Daily.
The city employes around 1,505 garbage collectors like Tian in Hangzhou. Some work from 2am to 11am without a lunch break, some work from 4am to 5pm. They do take short breaks.
Work is dangerous because garbage releases some toxic fumes and others that are disgusting, and some people leave sharp objects and blades in the garbage. Hangzhou Environmental Group gives every collector water-resistant clothes, rubber gloves, mask, helmet and boots lined with metal for protection.
Last week, Hangzhou Environmental Group has opened a well-equipped clinic at Tianziling landfill in cooperation with Hangzhou No. 3 Hospital which sends doctors to give medical treatment for those cleaners three days a week.
Xie Shuping residential guard
It's 11:30am and security guard Xie Shuping steps into the sun. The 55-year-old works at the Sandalwood Garden Community on Jianguo Road E., a residential area of 110,000 square meters and 605 families. Mostly Xie stands in a sentry box. Sometimes he must leave the shade to direct cars and patrol around the community.
Last year the Sichuan Province native became a security guard, one of 25 at the community who work from 8am to 7pm, or from 7pm to 8am.
"I like the job, the flexible schedule lets me manage my time to do volunteer work," Xie says, adding that he ails the elderly, donates blood and does many other useful things.
As the temperature soars, Xie receives a high-temperature allowance from his company. Watermelon and icy green bean soup are also send to the guards, courtesy of the company, for their tea breaks.
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