Colleague bringing in own industrial fan and me freezing

[Liliannna1]

I've got a colleague who I might add is very overweight (is this a reason for someone to be hot 24/7?) anyway my desk is in the vicinity of his HUGE industrial desk fan he has brought into work and is using to cool off. Managers have said it's fine as it's his own fan but the problem is I'm freezing and it's preventing me from working. I don't feel I should have to bring in extra clothing to put on when I get to work. There isn't the option of moving desks either.

This is causing lots of issues and it's got to the point I don't want to go to work!

WWYD?

Surprised he is allowed to bring this in from home. Has it been PAT tested? Go down the health and safety route!

I'd ask him to turn it down or try and adjust your seating slightly to ensure you are both comfortable.

Why did you need to comment on their weight? Rude.
They shouldn't be bringing electricals in from home. They need safety testing. And an industrial fan? What is that?
Move desks? Ask for fan to be turned away or put on a cardigan?

I suppose though it's possible for you to add extra layers while they can't really work in the nude.

I think that it's harder for those who feel the heat as they can't do anything else other than use air conditioning or a fan.

Bring in your own fan heater from home, and aim it at him.

It's not the end of the world to put a cardigan on jeez

This is a very small business so not sure where we would stand with official checks.

It's so big that wherever it blows it will be in my path. I cannot understand how someone can be that hot to justify a fan of this power and size!

I might have to take a dressing gown into work I've taken in extra layers but it still makes me freezing cold on my neck hands etc

Bring in lots of little heaters, if questioned just say 'there mine so it's fine'

Fan heater could be an option

As PAT testing is not compulsory, and your boss has okayed usage you've got to suck it up and take in a cardi.

Wear more layers, presumably he can't wear less. I'm menopausal and this weather is unbearable thanks to a 'cold' colleague.

I think I used to work with that guy - him in a tee, sweating profusely in spite of the fan and me in a hat and scarf at the next desk. We used to call him Antarctica John (though he was brilliant apart from his misguided sense pf temperature).

Would swapping desks be an option? I.e. is there a way in which he could be positioned in the space without deep freezing his co-workers?

I would love to have that fan in my office. Indoor temperature averaging 28 degrees. I'm not overweight, I just cant cope with working when hot and I imagine he feels the same.

Turn it round? They have as much right not to boil as you have not to freeze. Ask employer or colleague to supply a smaller fan?

What make is the fan misses point of thread

I'm a normal weight and I'm always hot. Im hot in winters I wish I had this fan! All summer I'm attempting to cool the office while my colleagues put jumpers on.
If you don't struggle with the heat you really don't understand, it's so hard to work boiling. You can put on a jumper, what other options as he got?

There is no legal requirement for a PA test. A basic visual check of the plug and lead is sufficient.

PA Testing is a business model that relies on ignorance of the actual law and is unnecessarily onerous on most businesses.

Ask him to turn the fan away from you, or run a heater to illustrate the point.

Nice bit of fat shaming there OP.

Meh - you can put clothes on but you can't take them off. Being too hot is so awful. You can easily layer up

I'm not fat shaming at all I'm simply saying the only other person who works in our office has also mentioned it's absolutely freezing to the point you cannot work. This person has a fan on ALL year round even in winter but the problem has only escalated since he found this fancy new industrial fan - the type you get in a club etc. It's blowing his paperwork everywhere he's got to give up sooner or later

I hate the 'cold' colleague syndrome. I feel the heat admittedly but some how one individual that could put on a jumper manages to make an office full of people sweat! Put on a roll neck of you are so cold. .. unless you don't mind him working in his underpants!

Perhaps I'll turn up in a winter coat hat and gloves to prove a point

One of the worse things about office work is different comfortable temperatures for everyone. Im a cold person who always feels the cold. At work I sit under one of the air conditioning units (large office) Other people will be wearing cool flowy tops where Im sat wearing a frigging hoody (its casual dress code all week) Most days it blows a bit and then stops, but that's not too bad. Yesterday however, it was constantly blowing. My face and hands were freezing.