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?

Like i said on another thread "someone has to die first Its the British way"

Temperature extremes exacerbate chronic conditions, including cardiovascular, respiratory and cerebro-vascular diseases, mental health, and diabetes-related conditions.

The WHO’s European region includes 53 countries in Europe and the Caucasus, along with Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. I'm guessing healthcare isn't quite what we'd accept in many of those areas.

For comparison, around 600,000 Chinese workers die every year. We don't stop buying shit from China to save those lives, do we?
https://archive.nytimes.com/schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/guolaosi/#:~:text=Deaths%20from%20overwork%20are%20so,mostly%20making%20goods%20for%20us.

Walk! In nearly 40C temperatures! 😂

I think the heat is getting to some people coming out with utter gems like this.

How do you know the OP's workplace isn't 10 miles away? Or 20? Or more?! Half the people I know work more than 15 miles away from where they live!

@Founderflower YANBU, but we can't just have time off when it's hot. The summers are going to get hotter and hotter. We need to learn to manage it. I mean the employers too. They need to cut workers some slack, and meet them halfway.

Ignore the posters telling you to walk. I bet THEY wouldn't do it - if it's more than 20 minutes walk. Also, as you say, some people don't have the time to walk between dropping off kids and the workplace start time. Daft bloody suggestion! 🙄

in 1976 there were 2 million daily passengers.

there is now 4 million.

We only need to be in three days a week but I'll go in every day this week for the air conditioning. Lime bikes are quick and very cool - it's a great way to travel in a heatwave.

Haha - you do realise this is American and one of the vulnerable groups is ‘people without air conditioning.’ Which is like 99% of the UK population.

I had just finished my 'A' levels, I had an outdoor summer job. I was temporarily care free, with money in my pocket. We got triple time for working bank holidays. They really were happy days.

Have you ever been on the tube when temperatures are in the high 30s and it stops mid tunnel?

It's a nightmare.

OP, I think you're being a tad dramatic.
Other people cope.
I cope.
You can cope.
Yes, the tube is like a furnace, but wear breathable fabrics, carry water and invest in a handheld fan.
Like everybody else.

This is what we should be doing in the UK as it’s only a week - but for some bizarre reason it’s some sort of dick waving contest on who can be the biggest martyr and make themselves as sick as possible in heat or be deemed weak.

Funnily enough as soon as we have even a sprinkle of snow the entire country halts… I’d say heat is far worse for many people and many professions.

I agree about how tedious it is how people keep endlessly banging on about Summer of '76! As if it was the only long hot summer - ever. So boring. 🙄

@Founderflower your bosses / whomever put on pub drinks at lunchtime sounds like an absolute idiot.

A “treat” would be putting on an air conditioned coach to the seaside or a lido or paying for everyone to get air conditioned taxis home at the end of the day.

Sitting in a pub drinking alcohol (inside? Outside under an Umbrella slowly roasting?) then heading back to work sounds truly awful. You simply cannot “enjoy” weather this hot without access to a pool or the sea.

Get a camel, they are good in the heat😀

Well of course they can't. But the rest of us can take appropriate measures to make their day much easier eh?

Piece of advice for you - don’t attempt to find out what it’s like on the underground in extreme heat - you clearly have no idea and will be caught short

I don't think it means a normal healthy regular person will in danger of losing their life if they commute to work?

If you were to be made to work outdoors with no shade, water or breaks for several hours then maybe. Or of you're immunosuppressed or ill or elderly.

But in countries where it's routinely hotter they do manage to survive.

I was born in the UK, and spent part of my life in a very hot humid country.

Guess what? I survived.

I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t take a legal genius to build a PI case if someone sets out exactly why they have to use the commuting method they do, to an office to do a job they can do from home, because their employer has compelled them to do so, and subsequently suffered a health event.

That's not what a RED ALERT is. It's dangerous for everyone.

I do agree that the heat is abnormal and people saying just get on with it are trivialising it somewhat.

However.

What do you actually want to happen?

You don't feel it's safe to travel on the tube. So, what's your solution? If it's not safe for you to go on the tube, it's surely far too dangerous for me (pregnant, hospitality worker) to be at work. And all my other colleagues too. So shall all cafes, restaurants, close? Anywhere with air con where staff use public transport?

COVID has made everyone so willing and enthusiastic to go back to the days of essential work only! Essential travel only! How can we function as a society if we do that every time there is hot weather (as there's only more coming).

Depending on the job, I walked to work or travelled by public transport.

I agree OP. Most signal failures on the tube are caused by overheating (usually electrical issues etc causing it though) and sure enough the Victoria Line has already had severe delays all day because of it and it's only getting hotter for the rest of the week. The Victoria is sickeningly hot for a lot of the summer anyway, and will be disgusting and unbearable for the next few days - the tunnels are drilled through clay and the heat can't ventilate. It would be at minimum a 2.5hr walk from here for a healthy person in normal weather to my workplace - partner works at the other side of London and would take maybe 4hrs to walk. You'd have to queue for a long time to cram into the bus instead, and I think partner would have 6 or 7 changes. Luckily their employer is an actual reasonable human, and my employer is understanding because I'm disabled and it's simply out of the question in these circumstances (lifts are one of the first things to break down in the heat, I wouldn't even be able to get up to my desk at work if I could somehow get in). Obviously to protect A&E etc there should be broad official guidance to wfh if it's reasonably possible so that at least things are more bearable for the people who have to do it.

Spare a thought OP for people working 12 hour shifts ,on their feet all day and no AC ! That’s what I have to look forward to on Wednesday inc 1 hour drive there and 1 hour back …now that really is shit !

Apart from all the people who die of heat-related causes you mean. The slaves working on building sites in Dubai are all fine with a bit of heat