this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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A maximum indoor temperature working law giving people a day off if workplace temperatures surpass 30C should be mandated by government, a new report recommends.

The report by the Fabian Society thinktank highlights inequalities in who bears the brunt of the impacts of climate breakdown and puts responsibility on bosses and landlords to stop people from overheating.

An increasing number of people are dying from excessive heat in the UK. More than 4,500 people died in England in 2022 due to high temperatures, which was the largest figure on record. Between 1988 and 2022, almost 52,000 deaths associated with the hottest days were recorded in England, with a third of them occurring since 2016, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. During the same 35-year period analysed, more than 2,000 people died in Wales due to the warm temperatures.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (4 children)

What about forges and other industrial places where it gets hot as balls?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

Most jobs don't require working with dangerous chemicals, but some do. Some jobs will be the exception, but should also be the ones that have specific safety training and equipment for those conditions which won't be in place for office or other similar jobs.

People working at a forge should have training on recognizing symptoms of overheating and adequate cooling and hydration practices (even if a lot of them don't) as forges can't be cooled in a feasible way. Office workers or people in jobs where it is not expected to be hot are far more likely to accidentally overheat.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Maybe they could retrofit air conditioning for worker safety?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

I work on an installation where there's a forge. I took a tour of it when I first started working and there's no way in hell you can effectively air condition that place without being extremely wasteful. Maybe I'm wrong and other forges have figured it out, but I'd love to see proof of it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Nah, no way to do it with molten metal being right there. It's a part of the job, and a reason why a lot of countries don't have a "maximum temperature" law, but have a "minimum temperature" one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

That sounds like an edge case that may need more creative solutions, or implementing breaks, etc. But I'd wager that for most workplaces this isn't the case.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

You can get air fed suits for toxic environments. I have seen these used in car manufacturing. From accounts of the lads there, they were very heavy to work with.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Right? Every restaurant in the country would be closed immediately and indefinitely.

Not that that's a terrible thing or anything

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago

And from my experience- every local council service.