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?

Not everyone works in an office btw. Me and my team literally work in a green house, glass windows all around. No air con. My colleagues are literally purple in the face. We work 9/10 hour shifts. And we cant wear floaty dresses. Its steel boots and safety clothing. We just get on with it, because we have to. But mostly I worry about my kids in this weather. Why should they suffer, just because I am?! Its not a race to the bottom.

@Eenymeanymineymo Well that does sound very challenging and unsafe, and sorry you have to go through that, the purple faces sound alarming.

Working in an a/c office does not.

We haven’t even got a/c in our office. We just get on with it as we aren’t customer facing so the company don’t care

I work in a nursery. We're not closing despite local schools either shutting or finishing early. The children are hot, sweaty, tired from not sleeping well in the heat at night and they all like cuddles! 🙈😂 We do lots of water play but I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to it especially being menopausal and feeling like I'm in the fires of hell already! 🥵

It is worrying! They have the neck fans and we have lots of water and ice lollies courtesy of the company. But yes, it isnt easy. We all look after each other and as manager ive said longer breaks and shorter days are authorised. I care about my team.

I’m incredibly sorry your son is going through chemo. But really my post and my circumstances have nothing to do with this. I don’t work in an essential services role. And I don’t work in a city like Cambridge where you can drive and park. I work in branded packaging and I have to commute for an hour on a tube.

I don’t get these type of posts at all. Good luck to you both tomorrow and I hope for the best for you both.

I hope all goes well for your son tomorrow! My son was at Addenbrookes earlier this year. For several months. The care he received was second to none. Sending you my love.

People manage to go on holiday to Spain and not die. I mean, tens of millionss go and actively seek these temperatures. But suddenly it's terrifying?

Even you have got this wrong. You don’t open your sun facing windows in 40 degrees heat.

I agree and it is these types of working conditions and expectations of employees that contributes to low productivity.

(Lol as the poster who said the tube wouldn't get hot - clearly has never travelled on the tube!)

Ha thought exactly the same. Usually people try to hide when they’re a bit dim!

A holiday is a holiday. It's very different to being at home and having to work and travel to work and to keep on going. On holidays you can lounge about.

I have family in Australia and one of them works outdoors in construction or civil engineering and they have hourly breaks during heatwaves for drinks with electrolytes and ice lollies.

Imagine here if people asked for hourly breaks die to the heatwave.

Imagine here if people asked for hourly breaks die to the heatwave.

Well, it would seem a bit daft if they were sitting in an air conditioned office and not doing any manual labour.

I was on the national rail website earlier and they were advising people not travel unless necessary later this week.

We where in London in 2017 in a heatwave was absolutely horrible were in Ireland beside the sea at home ! Felt like you couldn't breathe

I agree. If you decide to become a doctor or nurse you are aware that your role is essential and cannot be done from home. That's what they mean when they advise against "all but essential travel".

Going to save lives is essential, going to do a job that can be done at home isn't. And it's a heck of a lot easier travelling when everywhere isn't clogged up with people heading out to have zoom calls in a different location.

(and I don't think all the hardworking NHS staff will be thrilled to see an influx of heroic accounts payable assistants and HR managers trailing into A & E with heat exhaustion and dehydration because they wanted to prove how dedicated to doing their role in a specific location they were.)

whilst I can see the logic of WFH in the circumstances, there are so many people that simply can’t, not only health service staff but anyone in a customer facing role. Are their lives any less at risk by travelling in the heat?
What’s the answer for them?

@Founderflower I work in branded packaging

Branded packaging?

Are you mad? That is just the kind of job where we need bums on seats in central London please, insane to think you could do this sort of thing from home on a day where heat records will be broken, people are advised to avoid trains etc etc.

Get your walking boots on please, do your bit for the economy!

(please stay at home, take advantage of the ice cream your local supermarket is selling and do your job in peace)

What systems do we have?
When it's 40 plus which is a regular summer here, nothing too out of the ordinary, what is it we have in place to "deal with it"?
We still have to get busses and trains etc. As a kid we had summers like that with no air con in the classroom!

We "deal with it" the same way you would. Air con, water and a cup of concrete.
There are no systems that lower the temp for us and we are still expected at work. 🤷‍♀️

National rail website…

I looked at the weather forecast and the highest temperature London is supposed to hit is 34 on Friday. That's hot. Then again by the same forecast, Milan is going to be 37. You don't become fire retardant because you live in a hot country. It's the same for everyone. Take some holiday, or some sick leave. I have builders at my house demolishing and rebuilding walls at these temperatures. Now those guys I feel sorry for.

I agree and you’ve brought back some memories. Some employers really didn’t take heed of the warnings for Beast from the East. Our area ended up being one of the worst hit. Thankfully my employer had been sensible and sent us home before the estimated time the snow was due to start falling.

By comparison the chief exec at my mother’s place had emailed all staff, moaning too many people had worked from home and, “it was putting undue strain on the systems.” The stupid git expected staff to come in! Their office was accessed by most people either via an A-road or the motorway. The police and local councils had already put out announcements advising people avoid the A-road due to accidents and stranded vehicles. The road ended up being closed because it was impassable; the motorway was treacherous. Had staff listened to that mad woman, they’d have likely been stranded or worse.

When you’re dealing with idiot managers/employers that aren’t taking heed of extreme weather warnings, you have to be the adult in the room.

I'm pretty sure the emergency services would prefer other people to stay home so they're not having to deal with people fainting from heat stroke, or worse! The more people stay home in the shade where they can keep cooler and more hydrated, the more they can stay in air conditioned vehicles and buildings!