Hot and bothered at work
May 6, 2009
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has renewed its call for the introduction of an upper limit on workplace temperature, as UK summers are predicted to get gradually hotter and drier over the coming years.
In a new report entitled The Case for a Legally Enforceable Maximum Temperature, the TUC says that UK factories and offices will become increasingly uncomfortable and potentially hazardous places to work.
The report argues that although employees are not expected to work when the temperature drops below 16ºC (or 13ºC if they are do physically demanding work), there are no similar restrictions for when the workplace becomes too hot.
The TUC says that with long range weather forecasts suggesting a long, hot summer is on the way, it would like to see the law changed so that employers are forced to act when the temperature inside hits 24ºC, and that staff could be sent home (or alternatively employers prosecuted) if it soared to 30ºC (or 27ºC for those engaged in physically demanding work).
The TUC report says, "When the temperature goes sky high at work, employees can suffer heat rashes, headaches, dizzy spells, fainting and heat cramps. Stifling hot working conditions also affect concentration, making workers feel tired and as a result more likely to endanger their own or their colleagues' safety."
Brendan Barber, the TUC's General Secretary, said, "No one is expected to work in sub-zero temperatures but overheated employees are meant to carry on regardless of how high the office temperature soars. We need to see action now, before the impact of climate change is felt and our summers become hotter than ever."
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