Temperature at Work
In heat-waves and severe cold weather we receive a lot of questions about minimum and maximum temperature at work.
Dave Joyce, National Health, Safety and Environment Officer, Safety and Environment Committee explains that the appropriate legislation is Regulation 7 of the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations and the associated Approved Code of Practice (ACOP), which can be found here: www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1992/Uksi_19923004_en_1.htm
Employers must ensure that during working hours the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings is reasonable. This means providing reasonable comfort without the need for special clothing.
With regards to minimum temperature, the Approved Code of Practice states that work rooms should normally be 16ºC for most types of work and at least 13ºC for work involving considerable physical effort. Therefore in the Office environment 16ºC should be the minimum.
On the other hand although a maximum temperature is not specified in the Regulations, for most kinds of work the acceptable zone of thermal comfort lies between 16ºC and 24ºC. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that the maximum Air Temperature should be 25ºC and CWU Safety Representatives can use these figures when they discuss standards with local management. The Approved Code Of Practice does however state that Employers must take all reasonable steps to achieve a comfortable temperature including insulating hot pipes and equipment, providing air cooling plants, shading windows, siting work stations away from hot areas and using fans and increased ventilation in hot weather.
Other factors such as draughts and humidity must also be considered when aiming for a comfortable temperature and the Approved Code of Practice is quite clear that workers should not be exposed to draughts.
Regulation 7 also states that a sufficient number of thermometers must also be provided to enable workers to check temperatures in indoor workplaces.
Only as a last resort in unavoidable hot or cold areas should employers provide suitable protective clothing and facilities to limit the amount of time individuals' work in these areas. This however would not apply to Office environments and would apply mainly to specialist Workplaces e.g. Cold Stores and Blast Furnaces etc.
Outdoor workers have to be provided with suitable warm clothing designed to protect against adverse weather conditions under the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations.
To contact the department: healthandsafety@cwu.org
Further Advice
The TUC have information at this link: www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-12183-f0.cfm. Their
'Work smart' website contain a lot of practical information
and advice for workers on temperature and hot weather at www.worksmart.org.uk. In addition, the Health
and Safety Executive have some excellent advice on working in hot
environments at www.hse.gov.uk/temperature
