TUC urges employers to tackle hot workplaces
July 3, 2009
Talk of the weather during Wimbledon week usually signals a washout at SW19. Not this year, as the country basks in its hottest summer since 2006.
But while few are complaining, the workplace is not where most of us want to be, cooped up in offices or baking under the sun's glare on a construction site. This week's news is all about the heatwave — the Met Office issuing heat-health warnings, the Highways Agency advising drivers out on the sweltering roads, and unions urging employers to take responsible measures to safeguard employees.
With regard to the latter, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has responded to the heatwave warnings issued by the Met Office by calling on employers to "relax office dress codes and cool down their overheating offices and their wilting employees".
In a statement, the TUC urged employers to adopt a more relaxed approach to office attire by allowing staff to loosen their ties and leave their jackets at home, even if only for the hottest days of the summer, in order to help make work more bearable for staff.
The union has suggested staff be allowed to wear less formal, more casual clothing and come into work in shirt sleeves and shorts, where appropriate.
The union acknowledged that when employees are attending important external meetings or are dealing with the public, it may not be appropriate to wear "vest tops and shorts".
However, the TUC warned that the issue of keeping workplaces and staff cool is going to be of increasing concern for employers, as British summers get hotter and drier over the coming years as a result of climate change.
The union also took the opportunity to point out the ongoing legal anomaly that although the law states that staff should work in a reasonable temperature, there is no legal maximum.
Employees are not expected to work when the temperature drops below 16°C (or 13°C if they are do physically demanding work), but there are no similar restrictions for when the workplace becomes too hot.
The TUC would like to see the law changed so there is an absolute indoor maximum of 30°C, with employers forced to introduce cooling measures when the temperature hits 24°C.
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