The UK is set to see temperatures soar today and tomorrow - but how hot does it have to get before you can stop working?
Brits are being warned to stay indoors as life-threatening ‘day and night’ temperatures are due to blast the UK.
Death-Valley type temperatures of up to 42C during the day and 30C at night are threatening to double the UK summer average - prompting a Met Office first-ever red warning.
The temperature could set a new UK record. The current hottest temperature recorded is 38.7C, set at Cambridge Botanic Gardens back in July 2019.
The public are being urged “to do as little as possible” and try not to use public transport.
The chief executive of the College of Paramedics has warned that the “ferocious heat” the UK is predicted to experience over the next few days could result in people dying.
But what happens if you get too hot to work?
During times of scorching weather, the TUC workers' union has urged bosses to allow flexible working and relaxed dress codes to help staff.
Workers should also be allowed to take frequent breaks to help them keep cool, it recommends.
There's a recommended minimum temperature for a workplace, although it isn't set in law - 16ºC, or 13ºC if employees are doing physical work - but things get a bit messier when it comes to a maximum.
There also isn't a law for maximum working temperatures. However, during working hours the temperature in all indoor workplaces must be "reasonable".
The TUC wants to make it illegal to keep people at work indoors if the temperature is above 30°C and protection in place for people working outside or driving for a living too.
Sadly, that's not happened yet – but the good news is that there are rules that can let you leave an office that's too hot, just no official maximum temperature.
“An employer must provide a working environment which is, as far as is reasonably practical, safe and without risks to health. In addition, employers have to assess risks and introduce any necessary prevention or control measures,” the TUC explains.
So over to the Health and Safety Executive, who provide the regulatory framework for work place health and safety in Britain, to explain what to do if things get uncomfortable.
“A meaningful maximum figure cannot be given due to the high temperatures found in, for example, glass works or foundries,” HSE explains.
“The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 lay down particular requirements for most aspects of the working environment. Regulation 7 deals specifically with the temperature in indoor workplaces and states that:
"During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable.
“However, the application of the regulation depends on the nature of the workplace, such as a bakery, a cold store, an office, a warehouse.”
Employers also have to provide “clean, fresh air” as well as keep temperatures at a comfortable level.
The good news is that, because there's no official limit, you can get action taken whatever the temperature as long as people think it's uncomfortable.
“If a significant number of employees are complaining about thermal discomfort, your employer should carry out a risk assessment, and act on the results of that assessment,” the HSE explains.
If you're a more vulnerable employee – for example have a thyroid imbalance or are undergoing the menopause, or need to wear protective equipment at work so can't take of layers - that also has to be taken into account.
If your workplace gets so hot that you or your colleagues might be in danger, another law might help.
This is section 44 of the Employment Act 1996.
This law basically says you cannot be penalised by your boss if you do something at work to avoid danger or the risk of danger.
The act says "a worker has the right not to be subjected to any detriment by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, by his or her employer" in some cases.
These include "circumstances of danger which the worker reasonably believed to be serious and imminent and which he or she could not reasonably have been expected to avert".
It also includes refusing to return to your workplace if you think it is too dangerous due to heat or any other hazard.
So the answer is simple – if you're uncomfortable, tell your boss. If enough people do then they have to act.
You can see more information here.
