The People Bulletin

As temperatures soared 32 Celsius in some parts of the UK at the end of June and the beginning of July, the absence of a legal limit on maximum workplace temperatures prompted a flurry of comment from employment and health experts. 

Pam Kelly, employment law HR adviser at Thorntons commented on the CIPD’s website: ‘If places are too hot it can lead to health problems such as dizziness and nausea. Excessive heat can also mean that a workforce is less effective due to lack of concentration and an increasing amount of mistakes being made. The cynical among us think that sick days in the summer months are purely due to workers wanting to be outside and enjoy the sunshine – but with no maximum temperature by law it’s an issue that may soon become a real problem for employers and employees as the summer hots up.’

Temperature regulation information from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that indoor workplace temperatures should be ‘reasonable’. But it also says this depends on the nature of the workplace as it will be different in a bakery, cold store, office or warehouse. The HSE sets these temperatures as normally 16C or 13C where work involves physical effort.

Earlier this year, the TUC called for an upper temperature limit of 24C to be set for indoor workplaces but no limit was set.

Official government guidance on the recent heatwave advised: ‘Temperature regulation information from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that indoor workplace temperatures should be ‘reasonable’.  But it also says this depends on the nature of the workplace as it will be different in a bakery, cold store, office or warehouse. The HSE sets these temperatures as normally 16C or 13C where work involves physical effort.’

It goes on to advise those working in the education sector: ‘The advice to schools from DCSF is that heat stress and dehydration can be serious problems at temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, so that should be regarded as the maximum reasonable temperature for prolonged periods of time in school classrooms. However more sensitive children may experience problems at much lower temperatures. Children should be given plenty of cool water to drink.’

Earlier this year, the TUC called for an upper temperature limit of 24C to be set for indoor workplaces but no limit was set.

See www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/index.htm for more information from the HSE on temperatures in the working environment