To be worried about going in the office in this heat already?

[Chocolateapot]

I work in an NHS building on the second floor with no aircon. There are windows but these only open a fraction and don't let much air in. When it is hot it gets so unbearable I end up feeling genuinely unwell with a headache. A few years ago apparently someone fainted the office got so hot. AIBU for already worrying about next week in this heatwave?

The school I teach in is like a giant greenhouse so gets extremely hot in summer and I am on the top floor so in the hottest part of the building.

I am usually first in my department in the morning so I go round opening windows and doors and turning on available fans before it gets too hot.

Can you leave your door open? We leave classroom doors open to let a draft through.

Wear the lightest clothes you can.

Plenty of water and cool snacks e.g. fruit that has been in the fridge. Our staffroom fridge has a freezer box so sometimes we take turns to bring ice lollies for lunch or the end of the day 😂

Get a next fan from Amazon

Well it's going to be 32 apparently here in the Midlands so I don't think it's fair to shrug off the OP concerns not knowing where she lives and maybe you can cope with the heat better than she can. Your feelings are valid OP

I agree, my place of work has a glass frontage and no a/c. It can get to mid 30s in there sometimes. I just don't go in. It makes me feel ill.

There are posts like this every year and posters try to out heat / out job the OP. 'Oh imagine working on the sun in full PPE, that's what I have to do'.

It's pathetic. Some people feel the heat/cold differently so try and have some compassion for your fellow human rather than being arseholes.

Totally agree with this.

Currently in my third trimester and feeling quite poorly. Even existing in this heat currently makes me feel quite faint.

Not all of us love the heat and it can be just as detrimental to health as the cold. It’s why countries that have these temperatures usually have buildings built for it and often take a long break midday.

Frequenting the NHS a lot currently and it’s boiling hot with limited air flow at the best of times. A lot of workplaces don’t allow outside electronics without PAT testing which is annoying but for H&S regs. I feel for you OP!

Considering that the majority of my clients are on antipsychotics which can cause overheating then I don't blame them. It's hardly therapeutic when we are both sat there sweating...

Im dreading it too - I work in the upstairs of a warehouse that is basically a tin building.
We take steps to try and prevent the team from being too uncomfortable.
Last year I got the boss to order us all USB charge fans from amazon for about £20 each due to the lack of plug sockets in decent spots. I also insist that my team take more regular breaks too.
Is it worth speaking to your boss to see if theres anything they can do to make it less unpleasant?

Well makes it all the more peculiar that no member of staff hasn’t requested fans for the safety of their patients

It's predicted to be well over 30 in London early next week, that could easily rise to 40 inside.
In Spain, there is legislation so that employees don't have to work in temperatures of more than 28 degrees. Overheating can be dangerous. Employers should provide fans/AC/ shades and blinds/whatever is required to keep the temperature down.

You don't even know the details of OP or her patients.

And what's embarrassing is stone hearted, know it alls like yourself.

Oh, we have... many many times. There's no money don't ya know.

It’s 22 degrees 😂

For an Argo £20 portable?

if you put in writing that you are concerned about patient safety, they will have to escalate

It gets raised every year. We get emails reminding us that our clients are particularly at risk due to medications they take... still nothing happens.

You have not mentioned if you are a desk, on your feet or a mix.

Desk - you can get rechargeable cordless desk fans.I have bought one for WFH days but probably use it at night as from the few minutes I had it on, it was quiet and can put it on my bed side drawers.

I forgot to ask my colleagues about how is the office like in hot weather. As been in my job for 7 months now.

If you are allowed to wear things around your neck - you can get those clip on fans with a neck strap

I use a neck dan im a massage therapist in an incredibly hot room, however I couldn't really talk to my clients properly with it on its a bit noisy.

Buy a battery powered personal fan, either a neck one, or one that clips on your clothes to blow under your top, or both!

I worked in an old council building like that, it was bleak.

Neck fans are good. I also use the cooling gel pads and you can get cooling towels. I usually stick a gel pad on my lower back and then have the neck fan on (which has a cooling patch for the back of my neck too)

Make sure you have lots to drink.

Our office heating is still on full blast and they wont turn if off until end if June! We were told in an email this morning to "dress appropriately to be comfortable" in the office. That would mean lying naked on floor spread eagle but I dont think they meant that?

🙄

In the NHS I thought we had an upper limit for working. We had to stop operating a couple of years back because it got dangerously hot in our theatre department, and the physios gym was also out of action. I would put in a Datix about the heat, they could always get you a mobile Aircon unit. Although it's not a legal maximum limit, heat is treated as a workplace hazard and they have a legal duty of care to provide a 'reasonable' work environment. Hope that helps

We are getting temperatures that used to be confined to Southern Europe, but our buses, public spaces, hospitals etc aren't air conditioned. Just like our vehicles aren't equipped for heavy snow. There's nothing embarrassing about responding to the weather. Travelling across Spain is more comfortable than an hour on the bus, here in Liverpool.

If you are allowed a fan at your desk, there are personal air conditioners available that take up no more space than that. I live in Florida. Air conditioners are a necessity of life here!

The heating in our office is stuck ON! It's fucking awful in the heat, we have one fan dating back to about the 1970s that we fight over but it's about as effective as a fart in cooling the place. I'm going to WFH as much as possible but I've got a tonne of community visits booked in which are in care homes where the heating will be turned up to max anyway, and I'm probably going to be melted to the car seat by the end of next week.

Ironically in the winter we regularly get kicked out of one office and ordered to WFH cos it's on a flood area and the building has flood barriers it can put in if it's looking at all dicey.

I shall pick my office bases for the week carefully as some are hell and some are tolerable.

I'm just outside London and the peak temperature is predicted to be 27