to make a huge fuss about 36 celcius in office?

[50BalesOfHay]

Just that really. It's horrid, I could hardly breathe. No window, fam just stirs the soupy air. I'm late menopausal so struggle with heat anyway, but I just can't cope with it. Wibu to insist that work hire an air con unit, or I won't work there?

DP works in a factory and was in a room where the temperature gauge was at 49 degrees yesterday. I work in the kitchens at a supermarket and did a 10 hour shift cooking hot foot on Sunday. We'd both take a day at your sedentary office job over that any day!

The fact that people work in hotter places doesn't make the OP cool . OP I would raise the issue as constructively as you can.

Perhaps point out that reduced employee output (or none if you go sick) could outweigh the cost of hiring an ac unit? Also research the cost and come up with a couple of quotes. Agree you should be constructive and polite though.

There's no legal maximum (and the minimum is pointless tbh) so I would go to your boss armed with info about what temperature heat stroke starts to set in.

Unfortunately, most companies would rather let you make a fuss that'll be forgotten when the rare heatwaves we have break than invest in something that'll only be used a tiny percentage of the year at huge cost.

If you want you could look at ways too stay cool - damp tea towels on the back of the neck, foot baths, frozen hot water bottles, those cooling sprays etc. If the business allows, perhaps even staggering working hours to minimise the amount of people/equipment at any one time.

Personally I think fans are shit if you can't get a decent outside air source with them - they just blow warm air at you.

The irony is that I share an office with the health and safety manager and the union (public sector but up for privatisation). They've' raisedd the issue many times, the chief exec agrees its unacceptable but won't make it a priority ( his office has ac) only a (polite) fuss is going to do anything

Like fainting? (Politely)

There is no maximum acceptable working temperature
There is a minimum temperature at work,no maximum
Only guidelines

Turn up for work tomorrow in a bikini.

We used to freeze 2 litre bottles of water, then put them in front of the fan - homemade aircon!

Go sit at the other side of your CE's desk if he's got aircon. Or ask your line mgr for a mobile A/C. £120 for a week.

I don't get the people posting about how they work on a kitchen or how their hisband's a welder so they have it 10 times worse. If you go into that line of work surely you expect hot working conditions? Someone who chooses to work in an office expects a temperate environment - not "kitchen-like" and so the OP has every right to moan about it.

Miaow: I'm in a school too. The pupils don't want to work in that kind of heat, do they, which makes it ten times more difficult!

Try working on a postnatal ward. It's actual hell on earth in this gorgeous weather. You have my sympathies.

Bunsen burners...

School science labs are unpleasant in this heat. Mind you, we do get to use them in the winter too when everyone else is freezing...

I work in restaurant kitchen, coolest part of the kitchen under the aircon was 41 degrees! 8.5 hours in that heat and no break due to being understaffed plus a 5 mile round trip walking to get dd to and from nursery when it was 29 degrees outside felt like utter torture today!!

My classroom was 30 degrees today. Full of lethargic, sweaty teenagers. No fan and no breeze because there are no windows on the corridor.

But they won't do anything because there is no money.

Beryl what a good idea about the frozen bottles! I may try that at home

That's awful that the boss has ac and you don't OP! I used to work in an office and I remember walking in at 8am and the temperature was already 85f

The boss had ac in her office and couldn't give a stuff. 6 people, 6 computers, in a room about 16 x 18 ft. Absolute hell.

School I work in is ppi and if the classroom is above 35 for more than an hour with the windows wide open a s fans that the company provide then they close the classroom till they get they get the temp down

If you don't complain they won't do anything about it if you do they might, I would complain

I feel your pain.

I'm freezing. Wore socks and boots yesterday ffs! Even got a little fan heater going in the office.

I love that loads of posters are trying to 'out-hot' the OP. Its like a hot off! 'ooh you think you're hot? I'm a boiler operative in the fiery depths of hell'

I'd go to work in my pants and set up a paddling pool in the middle of the office. Hope you get your AC soon!

Tis shite 50bales.

An aircon unit that pumps the heat out of a pipe and out of the window costs approx. £200 and they can be really effective - specially if you are in an office and can run them 24hrs a day. Is there a sympathetic senior person, who'd be prepared to order it and stick it on their office supplies budget? Failing that, are there enough of you to club together an order one - £20 each?

YANBU.Two days ago a/c in my office wasn't working properly so we had 31 degrees. We haven't complained but a person from maintenance came in and told us that he noticed on his board where he monitors all the offices that the temperature in our office was too high and that he needs to check the a/c as obviosly something was not working properly. He fixed it and everything was fine after that.