Stakeholder Forum: Reviewing Workplace Temperatures Legislation and Guidance

The HSE has prompted a review of health and safety at work in regards to workplace temperatures following the request of the Secretary of State.

The Stakeholder Forum will take place on Thursday 23rd July 2009 and will examine the reasons for and against a maximum workplace temperature. The Chief Executive of the HSE Geoffrey Podger will be opening the event.

The event will be an opportunity to discuss:

• Whether the legislation and guidance is up to date and relevant with the nature of working patterns and workplaces;
• Whether there is good reason for having a recommended minimum working temperature, but not a maximum working temperature;
• If more can be done for those who work outside in regards to the effects of seasonal variations;
• What there is to be learnt from good practice, e.g. access to drinking water and other facilities in the working environment.

Further information concerning workplace temperature legislation and guidance can be found on the HSE temperature website.

Getting hot and bothered at work

The TUC is calling for an introduction of a new upper limit in temperature in the workplace. Currently, employees are expected to not work in temperatures lower than 16°C (13°C for physical work), however there are no limits for when the temperature gets too hot.

With summers predicted to get hotter and drier in the years to come, the TUC warns that offices and factories will become potentially hazardous places to work.

In their report, the TUC states that working in high temperatures can cause the following health implications:

• Heat rashes
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Fainting
• Heat cramps
• Affect on concentration/tiredness

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Even when the summers are bad, as last year's was, the temperature in some workplaces can be unbearable for employees and potentially dangerous in others. No-one is expected to work in sub-zero temperatures but overheated employees are meant to carry on regardless of how high the office temperature soars. We need to see action now, before the impact of climate change is felt and our summers become hotter than ever."

A recent survey undertaken by the TUC showed that 94% of respondents thought that their workplaces were too hot to work in last summer. 42% of respondents stated that they worked in unbearably hot conditions on a regular basis.

View the TUC's report on maximum temperatures in the workplace.