Work not taking red alert seriously

[Founderflower]

Why are some people not taking the red weather warning seriously? Where I am it’s 39 degrees on Wed/ Thur but ‘feels like’ 42 according to BBC.

At work they’re expecting everyone in - the office is air conditioned, so fine, but we’re central London so everyone needs to schlep in on public transport.

Red means a danger to life and not just for vulnerable people. Some people who are healthy will die because of the weather. There’s warnings of power outages and transport failures. So what happens if we get stuck on a broken down underground train?

I KNOW other countries see these temps regularly. But they are prepared for dealing with it. England is not and it fucks up. I don’t want a heart attack from sitting in 48 degree heat on a train. I’m really stressed out!

If it were a red warning around severe wind or rain or flooding they wouldn’t be telling everyone to come in! So why is heat seen differently?

Lucky you OP! Nothing from my company and my manager has gone awol (with a very uninformative out of office message). I'm dreading the commute. It's worse because I have to carry my laptop and all my gear into the office. The morning will be bearable, home not so much.

My kids' school is closing at lunchtime Tuesday to Thursday.

This

Her employer obviously does.
They provide a temperature controlled building in which to work.
Her productivity and comfort will be higher in the office than in her house.

Duty of care does not apply to people's journey to work. That's your responsibility.
Drive in an a/c car, or travel very early, etc

Some people want employers to treat them like princesses. You get paid to produce value for the people you work for. It's really not complicated.

I suspect OPs motivation in working from home is all to do with adding value to her

Yes, smart motorways being a perfect example of profit above life preservation.

Personally I work outside, I know it will be very hot but I would rather that than it rain 👍

Yup.
Also lots of manual labourers having to choose between not earning money and risking their lives. And it is also risky for the supposedly cheerful "manual labourers" so many mumsneters seem to know who just crack on with things and don't mind to be working in high temperatures in the UK. Any decent employer would be taking steps to limit nonessential work during a red alert and taking other steps.**

This from a summary of the HASAW (I underlined the most relevant part) https://unison.org.uk/get-help/extreme-heat-work#outdoor-workers

Outdoor workers
Those working outdoors require additional measures to protect them, both from UV radiation and heat stress.
In Amber warning areas
Work activities should be reduced and planned to take place at cooler times of the day (before 11 am and after 3pm), sun cream with a high UV factor should be provided free of charge, increased breaks out of the sun and free access to fresh cool water.
See Heat-Health Alert (HHA) colour warning system information below for more information on Amber warning areas.
In Red warning areas
Only activities which are critical should be undertaken, [following that advice for Amber areas] but significantly limiting any work during 11am-3pm, employers might consider asking employees to undertake temporary duties out of the sun, provided they have received the appropriate training to be able to do that work safely.

Well her employer has extended the opportunity for employees to work from home - so clearly they see a benefit to be flexible if the situation requires it.

And while, for essential work, it can't be helped it's the NHS who picks up the tab from the after effects of people doing heavy outdoor work in plus 35degree heat. So even if some people say they really like it frankly treating heart attacks etc is expensive, so it's bloody annoying if it's being pushed as some sort of macho way for men to prove they are better than namby pamby office workers/women.

I suspect they will have a change of heart on Weds if/when the promised weather materialises.

If in London I'd be looking at alternative routes to the tube - are there useful buses? Are you a confident cyclist?

Do you have the flexibility to travel very early? How early does your office open? Are you 'allowed' to start work early? Even if you're not in this kind of heat you might be better travelling to the vicinity of your office - till you're no more than 10 mins walk away, at about 5.30 - 6.30am and finding somewhere nice for breakfast/ a bench to sit on while it's not too hot, then allow yourself a slow walk to your office for the earliest time you can arrive.

For going home, you might be lucky and be sent home early. If not, maybe you could go to the cinema over rush hour and travel home later - probably won't be much cooler but there'll be fewer people. I suppose you could also consider a taxi / minicab door to door which is expensive but maybe worth it in extreme temperatures.

None of this helps if you're caring for children / pets. Bear in mind some schools will probably end up closing at which point your work will have to manage many staff needing to leave to collect kids.

@downloadtoad there is nothing I've experienced as an adult like the discomfort of teaching during a heatwave.
It's like being in a furnace, plus 30 children, plus every minute "can I go to the toilet" closely followed by "can I fill my drinks bottle up" "I'm too hot"
You get the picture.

Love all these office workers worried about the heat in their air conditioned offices. Think of all the workers in a physical job who can’t get to work from home.

Can I add a plea for everyone taking regular medication to check if your meds increase your risk of being affected by the heat, and take extra precautions

Literally no one has said they’re worried about being in an air conditioned environment. Is the heat already affecting your comprehension?

I was always this kind of 'meh, it's summer' kind of person, but the thing is, summer has not always been this way. Temperatures hitting nearly 40C in JUNE in the UK, is not normal, not what the British are used to.

Even in Spain they have been getting temperatures of 48C this past few summers. Never used to happen. Even a decade ago these temperatures didn't happen in the UK (or Spain.)

They're batshit, and very dangerous temperatures. People die in heat like that. (And the heat we are about to have can be devastating for some people too. Especially the very young and rather old.)

It's not to be sniffed at, honestly. And I say that as someone who has always said 'it's summer, get over it!'

I am enjoying it being hot and sunny, but nearly 40 degrees C?! In JUNE! 😱

I do not. Ever. Because I’m ill at those temperatures. Which is why it’s a concern for me when it’s mega hot here.

For some of us (even if not elderly!) it being really really hot genuinely is concerning. Hence the powers that be issue a risk to life warning.

I wish I did cope better in a heat wave, alas I don’t. One positive is, I generally cope a lot better in the winter than “summer” people.

So is your house air conditioned? I work from home, but our house will be like a furnace and it's not even remotely conducive to being a work environment when it's excessively hot outside. If the office was local (it's 200+ miles away) I think I'd commute to the air conditioned office rather than be at home. How far is your commute? I hope you have a smooth journey.

Is there a risk to lifef where you work, OP, and many people with health conditions at risk? Have not RTFT.

I heard some offices in Paris have told their employees not to come in this week.

Personally, I'd welcome a couple of hours on an air conditioned train followed by eight hours in an air conditioned office.

I have AC being installed next month so the cat will be happy, as will I!

Get proper AC. Can you save for it? I have, mine comes next month.

What about those of use who work in offices that don’t have air conditioning (or air con that actually works) and none of the windows open. Not all of us automatically have the option to choose to work from home either.

Pardon?

OP is referring to the London Underground (Transportation), not an underground cave.

Bumping this for those that haven’t seen it.
The Op has the option to wfh. A sensible compromise.

Tempting, but we are renting and I am sure the landlord is not installing it for us, and we are definitely not paying for improvements to a house we don't own!

This was my point!

I'm not usually one to dismiss people's concerns as it can become a race to the bottom where you aren't allowed to complain unless you're a one legged deafblind beggar living on the streets of Delhi. And even then somebody might point out that at least you don't have AIDS.

But people who work in air conditioned environments fretting over a brief commute to work is a bit like the posters 'struggling' on £130k salaries to me. We rarely hear men complaining about the heat and they tend to run hotter than we do plus don't have the option of loose flowing skirts that allow airflow around the legs. Usually it's trousers and short sleeves if they're lucky.

It's not true that "most trains have aircon". The newer trains have it, but there are still older trains on most lines that don't - about half of the trains on my line don't.

What you find not intolerable IS intolerable for other people.

I tend to agree with those that say the OP should take annual leave given how anxious they seem to be about it. If the employer has an air conditioned office, I don't think they are unreasonable to expect people to maintain their normal working patterns. Lots of transport is air conditioned now, including parts of the tube. If the OP is particularly anxious about tube lines, they can look at other options like the buses and overground lines - or taxis/ Uber - or even the boats, depending on the journey. As others have said portable fans are cheap and found everywhere now, and carrying a bottle of water is easy.

I'm not old enough to remember 76 but spent most of my life without WFH even being an option and people have always had to travel to work in all weathers, through transport strikes and breakdowns. During the period after the potters bar crash, when all trains were massively speed limited to commuting was a nightmare, but you still have to go to work - even when London Transport was bombed. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and get on with life, or if you genuinely can't cope with it, take ownership at book the time off. Then move jobs to something close to home where this won't be an issue in future.

That said - anyone who has to work in non-air conditioned buildings, where the working conditions themselves are bad, that's an entirely different matter and in that case, yes, there is a duty of care and I would expect those workplaces to close down if possible in excessive heat.