To think there should be a maximum working temperature?

[RaggedBlousedPhilanthropist]

I work in a non-air conditioninged office.

it’s a public facing role so we can’t work from home unless we’re soley doing admin stuff.

it’s just too hot today!

I know if it goes under a certain temperature (16-degrees?) they are meant to send us home, but this is just too much!

🥵

It’s difficult because those that work in kitchens people that do manual jobs like builders etc work in all kinds of conditions & temperatures.but I do think employers shouldn’t let you sweat to death at work in this heat . My last work place was horrific during a heatwave honestly I was a sweaty mess every day , fans only do so much . You are zero productive as so drained . Not even as much as a bottle of water or take a break although we did . There should be some sort of change like if your comfortable at home let you wfh / extra breaks / drinks or flexible working like coming in earlier so can leave when it’s too hot . I appreciate it’s not practical for everyone but those that can should try and be accommodating. I work in a lovely air condition office and it’s heaven in this heat .

It's always office workers who whine the most in any sort of perceived hardship. Buy a fan which you can literally sit next to you at your desk!

Meanwhile in the real world, the people with manual jobs who are in full PPE are getting on with things..

Air Con is also really bad for the environment.

leave work? so doctors, nurses,teachers,train drivers,999 control room......all free to go? ok. remember you won't get paid, can you afford that?

More than reasonable to provide them with water, uniforms designed to be cool, possibly shorter shifts or more breaks though isn’t it? Or it should be in a country that isn’t backwards.

The thing is, lots of people are able to work, might even normally call themselves fit/healthy, but find 40 degrees plus untenable.
Its been made clear by various medical experts that even fit and healthy people can be very adversely affected by extreme heat.
I don't think it's asking too much for employers to make their workplaces cooler to work in, where it is at all possible. So hospitals, schools, care homes could all be made cooler by a variety of means, and it's just not good enough to argue that they can't afford to do it. I get that outdoor workers like farmers still have to work, but even there, adjustments can be made.
Meanwhile I don't know what all this talk is of schools closing, our London authority issued guidance last week saying the schools were to be kept open. Ours has remained open despite temperatures of 35 degrees in some classrooms, but SLT and site management have tried really hard to make it as bearable as possible, ordering in fans in advance of all this, making sure blinds and windows work, relaxing the timetable and any rules which might help.
More could be done, like retrofitting the building with shade - awnings and the like. Budgets need to prioritise this.

PPE is designed to protect staff, not to keep them cool for a week of the year during a heatwave.

@Cornettoninja i think those measures will already in place....nobody will be short of water,and uniforms are already ditched or adapted. breaks and shift lenghth won't always be possible to change if people are ringing in to say they won't be in....everyone else will need to cover for them! thats whats happened at my workplace.

My BIL works an outside job in Australia. They are not allowed to work if its 40°C +

I felt really awful seeing the construction crew at my DCs’ school today. There’s a lot of work being done, and by the time I picked the DCs up at 3, a load of them were sitting on the kerb by the gates looking honestly quite unwell 😬 Poor guys been up on roofs, shifting bricks in this heat 🤯

Given these heatwaves are forecast to happen more often appropriate uniform should be part of of the assessment to protect staff. Thats the point.

Even without actual heatwaves, summers are getting hotter.

you don't ditch your PPE just because its hot!! i wear it myself. i adjust whats underneath it but nobody even brings up a PPE argument as we are not stupid enough to do our job without it!!

Maybe less people would ring in if they had hot weather working rights enshrined in law. It’s always going to come with the caveat of ‘where reasonably possible’ and within the interests of the business concerned.

People used to say the same about rights for pregnant women and disabled people to have their duties adjusted as needed. As far as I’m aware the economy didn’t collapse because their rights were enshrined in law.

No, because that would be silly; however mandating PPE wearers are entitled to more breaks where they can remove items for periods, rest and hydrate is reasonable in a heatwave. This is all down to the discretion of the employer at the moment, it should be a right.

It would be great if air-con could be provided but it is very expensive.
Providing fans would be nice.

However, many, many people work in situations where this is not feasible.
Should they just stop working?
Paramedics, teachers, hospitality, gardeners, bricklayers, architects, civil engineers, I could go on.
Should the country stop functioning because of sweaty boobs or moist armpits?

I think not.

@Cornettoninja the staff have all the adjustments we can physically offer yet they still dont fancy coming in....the bus is hot,the short walk in is hot, they dont want to leave their dog, they are keeping kids off so want to stay home....endless...so those of us in have to work harder. our employer has been great....we have as much as they can give,including an ice cream van visit.....its the getting to and from the job which appears to be the problem

its the getting to and from the job which appears to be the problem

so introducing wider legislation to ensure all working environments (including schools, public transport etc.) are suitable for heat waves and hot weather would indirectly positively impact on yours to a fairly large degree. although I can’t see ice cream breaks making it onto the rule book

it would also help to better define what is a reasonable employer expectation and what isn’t, especially in cases like this week where there is lots of official advice saying not to do things.

You're missing the point of PPE. They ARE appropriate uniform to go with the RISKS of the job if they weren't them.

People don't just let people wear PPE for the fun of it. It's there for a reason.. to protect the staff member wearing it 🙄

*weren't wearing them.

Air Con is also really bad for the environment.

So is driving, eating meat, eating fruit and vegetables out of season, using plastic, flying in a plane, using the internet, using a phone... I could go on.

Alright then. Let's all subject ourselves to these temperatures. Perhaps (British) humans will evolve to cope with them better? We might lose a few to heat stroke in the process, but for the greater good.

I'm not even sure if I'm joking.

No, which is why we should be adapting our infrastructure to cope with the temperatures.
I know nothing about the technology surrounding air con, but it can't be good for the patients to be sweltering in 40 degrees either. How are patients kept cool on days like today?

If you look at how many migrant workers in Qatar have died in construction for the World Cup, it’s in the thousands. Hottest months in Qatar are July/August where the temp range is 31-42. Yes there will be other contributing issues, lack of breaks, lack of water, poor living conditions, but heat kills. I don’t know why some people still aren’t getting that. It isn’t just “a bit hot”.

I don’t think anyone is saying we need massive adjustments right now. But it’s something that we will be faced with at some point. We’re lucky, this heatwave has only been 2 days. But we all know this is the shape of things to come. We can argue amongst ourselves but in the future people will die if we don’t start coming up with ways to deal with this issue.

So everyone gets sent home from the office to WFH? What will that achieve? I mean really? I work from home, I have still been working in 40 degress and still don't have air con!