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Temperature
[ch 5: page 69]Employers must ensure the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings is “reasonable” during working hours. This means providing reasonable comfort without the need for special clothing.
The revised ACOP and guidance says that workrooms should normally be at least 16°C for most types of work, and at least 13°C for work involving considerable physical effort. For most kinds of work, the acceptable range of thermal comfort lies between 16°C and 24°C.
Although a maximum temperature is not specified, a workplace must be “adequately thermally insulated” and the “excessive effects of sunlight on temperature shall be avoided”. The World Health Organisation says that in temperate climates, the optimum indoor temperature is between 18°C and 24°C, and reps can use these figures to negotiate better standards than those laid down by law.
Other factors such as draughts and humidity must also be considered when aiming for a comfortable temperature. The revised ACOP and guidance says all reasonable steps should be taken to achieve a temperature which is as close as possible to comfortable, including insulating hot pipes and equipment, providing air cooling plants, shading windows, siting workstations away from hot areas and using air cooling plant.
Guidance in the revised ACOP and guidance says that suitable protective clothing and rest facilities should be provided where local heating or cooling fails to provide reasonable comfort. Where practical, there should be systems of work (such as task rotation) to ensure the amount of time individual workers are exposed to uncomfortable temperatures is limited.
Regulation 7 says that a sufficient number of thermometers must be provided to enable workers to check temperatures in indoor workplaces.
Company fined for cold working conditions
In 2011, a £2,000 fine was imposed on Carlisle-based fashion retailer The Internacionale, which was prosecuted after local authority inspectors discovered that the management policy of leaving doors open, believing it would encourage customers to enter the store, left staff being forced to work in temperatures of only 7.6°C.
Also in 2011, general union GMB circulated advice to members combating cold temperatures in ASDA stores, reminding reps that if a store or supermarket is uncomfortably cold, management should ensure that breaks are more frequent to allow employees to get warm in rest rooms and have a hot drink, advising that temporary heating should also be provided where appropriate.
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw says that queries about cold workplaces are the commonest enquiries to their health and safety team in the winter months. Most come from members working in shops, especially those at checkouts or kiosks, who are not as mobile as colleagues in other parts of the store. In December 2013, the union updated its guidance: Too cold for comfort www.usdaw.org.uk/adviceresources/resources/numberedleaflets116to376/399toocoldforcomfort.aspx.