to think there needs to be a maximum working temperature.

[HelenaDove]

Ive been shocked to read on here and see and feel in RL how hot some workplaces are getting (namely some of the shops ive been in) some of the posts ive seen on here are really worrying. IMO there needs to be a maximum working temperature . This hot hot weather has gone on MUCH longer than the Beast from the East snow did. Why on earth does there have to be a death in this so called first world country before anything changes........i actually think thats what its probably going to take before anything MIGHT be done .

amp.theguardian.com/careers/2017/jun/21/working-in-a-heatwave-your-legal-rights?__twitter_impression=true

I think this is a bit precious. It's hot and sticky yes so measures such as allowing our nurses to take off tights is definitely a must but sending them home? Okay, if everyone can look after themselves and not need hospital then we're all good

The reality is than in hospitals there's huge issues with old buildings and the expense of fitting air con for what is usually a few days a year is beyond the nhs budget. As the last time it was this hot for so long was in the 70s it is a bit bonkers to decide to splurge this year. Last year we had one hot week.

As long as you stay hydrated then you're fine. Our senior A&E consultant is from South Africa and thinks people complaining about this heat are hilarious. It's nothing. I remember being in Majorca at 44 degree heat.

In ye olden days they used to put the temperature on the front of the London evening standard and I remember one summer the paper just had a huge '40' on it. Yes that's 40' of stinky people, crammed in like sardines.

Employers really need to have some common sense. Enforcing tights for example is idiotic. Schools enforcing blazers likewise. There will clearly be roles that are harder to make comfortable but there are small things that can be done to make things nicer:

I’m pregnant and really struggling today. The heat seems to be exacerbating my morning sickness, I’m not sleeping and generally fed up with UK summer. I was on holiday a few weeks ago and the temperatures were higher but there was aircon everywhere and I spent most of the day in the pool. That’s why holidays in the sun are fun and day to day life in a country ill equipped for heat is a bit shit.

But the less people LIKELY to get heat stroke the less will be attending A +E to be treated for it. So the more workplaces AND public transport that has it (and ive noticed a few posters have neatly side stepped the public transport issue) will be a help surely

Either the NHS has problems or it doesnt You cant keep moving the goalposts to suit.

Jesus how are any of you even at work. Im currently on mat leave with both tits hanging out of my now open BFing bra, wearing husbands boxers to air that post birth fanjo, and baby in her nappy only...
Seriously id die if i wore a vest right now let alone work clothes!

Another one to say try being a nurse in the summer. We cant just walk off the job because its too hot.I live and work in a country where summers are generally hot 30 -38 degrees without air conditioning (it would cost too much) .somehow everyone just copes.

I work in a hospital with no air conditioning....the room I tend to be based in has no windows and no air con. Patients are more poorly and more dehydrated than normal!
We were allowed scrub tops in previous years which was better than a tunic but that's not happened yet! For the first 4 days of the heatwave we were allowed to take 45 mins to an hour for lunch but that's also no longer! So 8-4 in this environment on half hour break. I love the heat but not working in it!!
We should be grateful we have lots of dyson fans apparently!

Lovely idea but impossible for emergency services and NHS.

so if theres a new "maximum working temperature' law brought in.....what will happen when it gets to 30 degrees or whatever its set at?

It must have been over 40 degrees in my office today. By 5pm I couldn't stick it any longer. Productivity is certainly lower in stifling conditions. Tiny window, no air con, but I do have a fan which is as useful as a fart in a spacesuit

@m0therofdragons "Our senior A&E consultant is from South Africa and thinks people complaining about this heat are hilarious."

Wow. What a fucking horrible person, and how really, really shit of a medical professional not to be able to understand that some people can suffer profoundly in higher temperatures.

YY Mogle im astounded that some of these medical professionals seem to want a race to the bottom.

I have a lot of admiration for people who work in the emergency services who have to work in this in full heavy uniform but i really cant understand why they cant see that if contingency plans are put in in OTHER workplaces that will mean less work for the medical professionals and an overstretched NHS because there will be a lot less chance of patient admissions for heatstroke.

Instead we seem to have a real race to the bottom mentality in this country.

Those saying "well they cope in hot countries" - yes BECAUSE

They're acclimatised to it
Building design is adjusted for it inc air con
Town design is different too - broader streets, more trees, green space etc
Working conditions are adjusted - hours when places are open, employees able to hydrate frequently, take breaks at hottest points, uniforms are designed for the climate.

So it's not as simple as just laughing at us for not coping.

It's also a different quality of heat. It tends to be much more humid here than eg Spain.

Transport - many issues there not just relating to heat but overcrowding which is always uncomfortable - I think there needs to be better regulation here.

Surely the idea isn't necessarily to send everyone home but to make employers provide cooler working environments and conditions which make it easier/less damaging to health to work in hot temperatures.

YY Graphista My hairdresser has a small villa in Spain and she says the heat is much more bearable over there with a lot less humidity.

Shes gone over there a couple of times recently to get away from the British heat.

If you live somewhere bloody hot it's not all that uncommon to have a cool bolt hole in the mountains or by the sea.

Channel 4 news have just mentioned the summer of 2003 like i did upthread and have said this will become the new normal.

@Mogleflop nope he's lovely and amazing but not pandering to nonsense. He's used to dealing with gunshot wounds and true heat stroke. We've not had one incident of heatstroke so far this year

It is hot for sure but people seem to constantly look for ways to get out of work and it's pathetic.

No, he's not lovely if he actively laughs at people under his care, and neither are you.

I'm autistic and can't handle hot days well at all. Heat makes me ill, and I'm not pathetic, I'm just not in a functioning body. This heat is extended torture for me.

I hate people who make me feel even more like shit. I'd have hoped that medics could have perhaps understood.

@Mogleflop okay I'm a horrible person. I can't help thinking of the lives my grandparents lived and reading stuff like this and thinking "seriously we're a load of excuse makers!" Working in this heat isn't pleasant but there really are worse things to deal with. My hour long walk to work in the snow followed by a 14 hour shift then walk home in snow was harder.

We have life so good in 2018 yet everyone just moans. People have lost all concept of what's hard. But I'm a horrible person? Okay, you don't know me or anything I do to make a difference in my community, my job, my dc, my volunteering but I'm horrible? Okay

I didn't use the word horrible, you've come up with that. But yes, that fits if as a medical professional you mock and belittle people who can't physically cope with things you can.

@m0therofdragons Just because things were worse in the past why does that mean we shouldn't continue to improve things?

Like i said.................race to the bottom.

I had 22 tweens, 3 adults and 8 Bunsen burners in a third floor classroom today. The windows about approximetly one inch. Result - hot children, a stinky room, and a ratty teacher.

We will not be getting Bunsen burners out tomorrow!

motherofdragons if we have life so good in 2018 why are you needing to volunteer to make a difference in the community

Guess your senior A and E consultant didnt get the memo

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/711503/Heatwave_plan_for_England_2018.pdf