AIBU to think offices should have a legal maximum temperature?

[OceanAvenue]

There needs to be a maximum temperature in law (excluding professions that you know when you train for the role, for example welder, chef). My office today was 31 degrees and I have a blinding headache and feel completely sick.

I spoke to our manager and she essentially said sorry there’s no maximum temperature in law, there’s nothing we can do. I work in the NHS so I wanted to see my clients - it’s not about going home to work but I feel like they should have a duty of care to staff above a certain temperature?

Voted YABU for excluding welders and chefs, who also deserve to be safe. But yes, there should be.

I’m not sure how you see this working in practice really OP. If we set the temp at 30 degrees then what, nobody works once it hits that temperature? So nobody in GP/pharmacy/hospital, nobody working in shops, bus/train drivers not working so nobody can get anywhere, lots of utilities require constant staffing so if all of those people go home… it’s about being sensible at 31 degrees as an adult, lots of water, fan etc

Yanbu. I can only imagine it must be on a hospital ward today. I was in hospital when it was 33 degrees last year and that was unpleasant enough.

Both my kids’ schools seem to have set an unofficial heat policy that 35 degrees is their cut off point.

Personally I think that’s a bit too hot. We need to invest in making offices cooler . Anything above 30 degrees can be very uncomfortable.

It would be impossible to police.

The law is a blunt instrument and inserting max temps for the workplace would screw up industries like foundries, glass making, engine rooms and more.

Making it only about offices would mean more than two-tier protections and suggest that office workers deserve or need more protections from heat than manual workers in much hotter environments.

In terms of the NHS, they need to make every building air conditioned for patient safety as well as staff. But that's a separate conversation.

I was surprised to discover there isn't tbh, considering extreme can be more immediately threatening to life than cold (which kills more people, but not usually so quickly that a day in a cold office could be fatal).

I appreciate its unworkable in practice but there needs to be some legislation to force employers to do more. I guarantee the senior managers in the NHS have lovely air conditioned offices.
I worry for others too and my patients. I’m a healthy young-ish adult - what about people who are pregnant, menopausal, taking medications that make them more sensitive to the heat etc.

I only excluded welders, chefs etc as I thought people would bring them up as exclusions, of course they deserve to be safe too.

What is your reasoning for limiting it to office workers?

@OceanAvenue I really do think the better tack would be about patient safety. Something you could take to your MP.

I was on a hospital ward today, it was warm, but fine. Granted not in London, but I’m pretty sure a lot of those being dramatic are not in London either. Drink water, have a fan.

I don't see how it's unworkable. There are lots of health and safety rules and I bet a lot of employers find them annoying and tiresome to the bottom line - why can't we just kill a few employees.

If all offices have aircon and have windows that can open and fans and blinds etc they will stay below the maximum in all but the most extreme temperatures. Also make sure radiators don't come on in summer, that sort of thing.

There's a meme doing the rounds about a radiator in an NHS hospital that has been switched on since 1976 (but doesn't work in the winter). It's funny but it's not, really - employers need to act with care towards their employees (and patients and customers).

The cold is fine - you can always put more clothes on, have a heated blanket/pad etc.

Heat is more difficult to deal with.

Ah it’s the bloody suggested AI title.

You needed AI to write two tiny paragraphs for you?

The cost to install air conditioning in every office, classroom, workshop, surgery and hospital ward in the country would be immense-billions, and that’s without ever even turning them on, or servicing/fixing them.

That amount couldn’t be swallowed by individual company/school/hospital budgets (without companies collapsing) and the government isn’t going to pay it. Far easier for them to just let everyone get very hot for a week or so every year.

I feel the real question is - how hot is unsafe? I have looked but cannot find an actual answer. In the ME, it was 50c ; in Germany, it was around 30c ( indoors)

I am in Scotland , but have been in London in a heatwave, and it is miserable.

I think it’s probably time to lobby our own employers to provide sensible cooling measures - such as shutters, improved windows, ventilation. Air con is less than ideal as it’s hard to run without negative climate effects.

We probably need a wholesale review of building standards to meet the needs of climate change, and it’s not just solar panels and electricity.

No, but when I went to add the title MN gave me a suggested title to use so I just clicked on it.

I think making sure new builds are built with both heat and cold in mind is most helpful as well as adapting older buildings to cope where possible.
Tbh if your in an office your mostly sat on your backside, away from customers and able to have a nearby fan.
Some retail and most hospitality places have no air con and staff are constantly moving and just dripping in sweat to serve the customers needed to keep the business open.
I work in an actual greenhouse and it was 40-42c for the afternoon today. Still had customers because the older generations just get on with it( and ignored the red warnings)