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?

I used to work in the NHS. It got so hot in my office that a colleague and I clubbed together to buy a fan as management wouldn’t buy one. We were both absolutely sweltering before we got it.

I feel you there. I'm terrified of this heat bringing on a seizure as I have to take the tube to work and am 25 weeks pregnant.

I also work in an office with no air con we have fans we are third floor so our windows only open a little and you can guarantee the heating will be on because there’s always someone moaning it’s cold I’m up and down 4 flights of stairs all day and the rooms we work in with the clients downstairs don’t have windows or air con or fans and the doors must be kept closed these rooms are exceptionally small and become extremely hot very quickly but we all manage to survive every summer.
Keep hydrated and invest in some cooling spray.

I feel your pain. NHS admin and second floor office with a small skylight. It will be about 34 in my office tomorrow. What has saved me is a small fan on my desk. Much more powerful than a big fan. I also have a neck fan I use when moving about doing housework at home.

Do you have air con at home? Not going to be any cooler there is it?

Only needs PAT if it runs off the mains. Get a battery/rechargeable one.

Its horrid working when its very hot, handheld fan might be your best bet as you can't have a desk fan. You can also get cooling towels which you dampen with cold water then drape round your neck - those are lovely!

I work in a factory, have to wear long sleeves for safety reasons (so chemicals don't get on my skin) and most days have to work inside a 45 degree industrial oven for part of the day, so I know well how horrid heat is but at least heatwaves are only temporary. You just have to cope for a while and then it'll cool down again.

Yes YABU. I had to work the entire bank holiday weekend, outside, in thick trousers and big boots. It was boiling and uncomfortable and gave me a headache. But it’s life. You aren’t the only one working in it for gods sake, get a grip. At least you’ve had a nice bank holiday off to enjoy the sun! How do you think people in hotter climates manage? The world doesn’t shut down because it’s hot.

Once again. Different bodies cope differently.
I would be in a &e if I spent even half an hour working as you describe. That's not due to lack of will power it's due to my medical condition.

Genuine medical conditions are different. OP hasn’t mentioned one.

You have no idea about my body either but unfortunately heat happens every year and it’s shit but we have to deal. Do you work outside in full protective gear and steel capped boots next to burning train engines?

Do you think just because I didn’t faint it wasn’t shit?

Literally, Jesus if people did that in my job we’d have no staff!

When we had the temperatures of nearly 40 degrees a couple years back I had a call from the school to come and collect DS. He really suffers in the heat and they only had one small fan for a classroom of 32 kids. He needed to get out of the situation before he fainted.

I also work on a 2nd floor of a hospital and it's stifling. We are able to hire air con units though which is a godsend.

Sometimes people don't even know they have a medical condition. I went many years undiagnosed

I am sure it was awful for you. But my point is that people inhabit different bodies and therefore have varying abilities to cope.

take a piece of cotton, and wet it, and put it on your neck

Don't worry about it. Be cold, grey & wet before long and you can go back to complaining its not sunny enough.

I'm sorry you are getting such a hard time on this thread, OP. There are some really unpleasant comments.

Some of the worst air quality I have experienced has been in hospitals - on wards and in waiting areas.

A couple of months ago I accompanied an elderly family member for an MRI scan. The scanning unit is on the lower ground floor. The waiting room had no windows at all and no evident means of ventilation. There was a fan but it was not switched on.

This was early spring and the heating was on. The air quality was so bad that after half an hour I felt like I was going to pass out.

If you are working in an office of 40 people I wonder how bad the CO2 levels are. (You can buy personal CO2 monitors, for example, Aranet, to monitor air quality.)

Last year a family member was scheduled for a procedure under general anaesthetic. They were asked to arrive early and then there was a wait of over two hours before they were taken down to theatre. All day cases were placed in single rooms which was nice but the temperature in our room was 76F. There was a window but we could not get it open. I had to find a porter to come and open it as it was so hot and stuffy.

Standards of ventilation in UK hospitals is often appalling - likewise schools.

And you could take your own power bank in anyway.

Temperatures forecast to drop significantly on Wednesday. Presumably you're not at work today on a bank holiday.

Thanks for all the helpful tips from the posters who weren’t telling me I’m a pathetic snowflake. I’ve bought myself a handheld fan and will sneak in a big fan I have here and hope for the best.
Someone saying it won’t be cooler at my house - it certainly is, at work the average temperate in the office typically sits around 25 degrees even when it’s cool outside.
No significant medical conditions I just seem to be one of those people who run ‘hot’- last time it was like this at work people kept asking me all day was I okay ass I remain a sort of sweaty red colour and I end up with a banging headache. Not ideal to be able to concentrate on my job.
and this is with my hair up and full linen on.

I love the sun when I’m not in work. At work, we have to dress modestly & there is no air con.

@Chocolateapot the mini desks fans ocoopa ride and fall in price from 14 ISH to 20 ISH .
They are a brilliant investment

Just deal with it plenty have theres people working in kitchens and outside put your big girl pants on take what measures you can

Of course it will be! I’d imagine her windows can open further for a
start!

Thanks, I completely agree! Some ridiculous comments, but glad some people still have empathy

I’m disabled and it’s 34° tomorrow (London), my work doesn’t have aircon so dreading it too.
Rest of the week is still 26 - 29°. Today it reached 35° in parts of London

As an American, I’m sorry, but not having proper AC in patient-facing hospital spaces is genuinely barbaric. If people are avoiding medical appointments because the rooms have become too unbearably hot that is an infrastructure failure, not a “heatwave” problem. Basic 21st-century climate control should be a standard safety minimum for any hospital, anywhere.