Worker rights in the heat
2 minute read | June 27, 2017
With the hot weather having the potential to cause health issues for workers, the importance of understanding and managing risk is paramount. The Health and Safety Executive UK have put together some advice for both employers and employees to help ensure they stay safe during the hotter weather.
Outdoors
For employers
- Reschedule work to cooler times of the day
- Provide more frequent rest breaks and introduce shading to rest areas
- Provide free access to cool drinking water
- Introduce shading in areas where individuals are working
- Encourage the removal of personal protective equipment when resting to help encourage heat loss
- Educate workers about recognising the early symptoms of heat stress
For employees
- If work keeps you outdoors for a long time your skin could be exposed to more sun than is healthy for you
- You should take particular care if you have: fair or freckled skin that doesn’t tan, or goes red or burns before it tans, red or fair hair and light coloured eyes, a large number of moles
- Too much sunlight is harmful to your skin as it can cause skin damage including sunburn, blistering and skin ageing and in the long term can lead to an increased risk of skin cancer
- You can manage your exposure to the sun by wearing high factor sunscreen, drinking lots of water and taking regular breaks in shaded areas
Indoors
For employers
- Workplaces need to be adequately ventilated so that they remove and dilute warm and humid air
- Frequent rest breaks should be permitted
- Free access to cool drinking water should be available and the containers should be refilled at least daily
- Educate workers about recognising the early symptoms of heat stress
- The TUC says: ‘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.’
For employees
- Take regular breaks and drink lots of water
- If the heat is unbearable and enough of your colleagues complain, your boss is legally obliged to carry out a risk assessment
- According to the TUC, the maximum temperature for a workplace is 30⁰C for desk work and 27⁰C for manual work. If your office exceeds that amount, you should be allowed to go home
Is your workplace looking more like a sauna than an office? If you need more specific information about the fluctuating temperatures and what it means for your employees and business contact us today.
For more information on health and safety welfare in the workplace, please visit www.hse.gov.uk
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