Is there a maximum tempreture you are allowed to work in?
 

My mum works in a doctors surgery and the tempretures in the office are rediculous, I was wondering if Health and safety set out a maximum temp you are allowed to work in?

She wants some info before approaching the management


Cheers



Cookie :)

Nope, as ridiculous as it is there is only a mimimum temperature for working conditions. Its about time that was changed.

nope, believe minimum temp is something like 16 degrees C an hour after you start work or something along those lines....

Just found this. :thumb:

Whilst British legislation does not set a maximum working temperature, it is interesting that the World Health Organisation recommends a maximum air temperature of 75°F/24°C for workers to work comfortably.

She will not be pleased, does anyone know how much those portable air con units are to hire, and are they any good?

Whilst there is no legal maximum temperature there are guidelines that refer to working in 'reasonable' temperatures.... so if you do a lot of manual work the temperature should be lower than if you sit at a desk all day.... Health and Safety Executive (HSE). http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/temperature.htm

We had this problem a few years ago in a windowless office with no ventiliation... got upto 86 degrees some days til someone finally threatened the bosses with a visit from HSE :)

They're not bad at all - we use one here (why are all surgeries in old period buildings?!). You fill it up with about 10 litres of water and it runs for about 8 hours. Once it's empty you just refill it and off you go! Makes you wonder where all the water goes though - given that you have the windows shut while it's running!

i'm the same in the wine shop where I work at the moment... it's only a relatively small shop, but we have 3 large fridges and 2 computer tills that are switched on all the time. we have no air conditioning. Have to open the back door ( which we shouldn't really do as there is no security grill on the door)... only other entrance is the main shop door, and if we're in the back of the shop we have no means of knowing if a customer has walkied in the shop or not if we leave the door open.
the confectionary we sell isn't even consumable as it stands at the moment... it's all melted through the heat in the shop!
And the company don't even provide us with any water to drink.... we do have a tap... but i certainly wouldn't drink the water that comes out of it!
we have a pop chiller ( which hasn't worked properly for months).. that gave up the ghost a couple of days ago... so now we have no chilled drinks in the shop! and we've even got to buy them ourselves... they should allowance say a half litre drink for every hour you're in work !:mad:

We have had a work/rest regime implemented where I work:

The Heat Stress - wet globe temperature index gives a work/rest regime of:

26.0 - 27.5 degrees celsius - 45 minutes work - 15 minutes rest

27.6 - 29.0 degrees celsius - 30 minutes work - 30 minutes rest

29.1 - 31.0 degrees celsius - 15 minutes work - 45 minutes rest

This was implemented after temperatures were recorded at 77 degrees celsius (170.6 degrees farenheit) on one part of the plant! :eek:

I'm not sure if this applies to office staff though. :wonder:

sd: Have a read of this, check your employer is complying, if not then grass them up anonymously :thumb:

We work in an oven quite literally, its already 26.4 degrees C here in my office and I have all the windows open (its dropped 1 degree already. with 2 big fans running too) Monday I saw the thermometer hit 36degrees in here :mad: the roof is like a glass panel, see through plastic. Its horrid in here sometimes, we rarely get sent home either, only when its quiet but to be fair if it gets really hot the boss usually pops down to the shops for some ice creams :)

One of my clients is a paper mill in Kent.
This time of year the machine areas will be anywhere between 40 -50 deg C, but combined with the humidity from water evaporating off drying paper, it is sheer hell.
I can't imagine how the employees cope with working there on a shift as I can't stand more than 1/2 hour in those conditions.
In the good old days, a healthy beer ration was issued to machine floor workers - shame it isn't done now.

Nick

the air con in our shop blew up on sunday at about 2pm, by 5pm it was over 28 c. :razz:

We have loads of TVs and electrical stuff running and huge glass windows at the front of the shop, good job we are on the shady side of the street.

I've had the double doors at the front of the shop open, they are the only door btw, so no through draft :cry:

Got weighed this morning and I've lost 4lb without really trying, do you think its the heat? :confused:

cant wait until november when the "whats the minimum temperature we are allowed to work in"
before anyone says anything, i know the answer has already been posted above but I expect this thread to be on page 107 by then.

An office isn't literally an oven.

We dont have aircon in our office so we just have the windows wide open at both ends of the office (luckily we arent near a road, so the noise isnt bad), desk fans and when its as hot like it has been recently, I let my lot come to work in shorts and t-shirts as Id rather they concentrated on doing their jobs than worrying about being hot and uncomfortable :)

Thought if you had air con and it packs up then there is a legal requirement for maximum working temps

Well its not even an office, more of a workshop with a glass roof, making it literally like an oven when the sun comes out.

Nope it's only advisory:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/thermal/index.htm
http://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/thermal/step1.htm

I used to work for a major bakery and guys there had to work de-panning the bread (removing the bread from the tins) at the end of the ovens. No air-con, temperatures outside 30 degrees, temperatures where they work 40 degrees plus. I walked through there occasionally in the summer and the heat was unbelievable - how they managed to do a manual job in that heat I'll never know.

Since then I've tried not to complain about the heat in the office.

Well its nice and cool in here, the IT dept gets powerful aircon yet finance and all the other departments seem to be without, and its not cos of all the computers, they have as many as us ?

why dont we all go to work naked, might give the boses a hint about the temperater:norty: :D

You lot should try working whilst wearing a triple layer nomex firesuit worn over a long sleeved nomex shirt.Add to this rigger boots and a hard hat and safety specs. Then you'll know what its like to be HOT

Chip

Sorry just a pet hate of mine, 'literally' has a specific meaning.

Literally:

(intensifier before a figurative expression) without exaggeration; "our eyes were literally pinned to TV during the Gulf War"


Davegtt is correct :thumb:

I'm aware of its wide usage as an intensifier, but that doesn't make it any less stupid. The word will soon lose all meaning - literally.

Dave, he said you were stupid :lol1:

Sh1t-stirrer!

Only kidding :razz:

:D Im not that easily offended, its not my fault he has a problem communicating with mere mortals ;) :D