Working Conditions: Temperature

(asked on 20th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidance on high workplace temperatures.


Answered by
Mims Davies Portrait
Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 22nd July 2021

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regularly reviews and, where necessary, refreshes guidance published on its website. HSE is satisfied that guidance on high workplace temperatures remains current and relevant.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, places a legal obligation on employers to provide a ‘reasonable’ temperature in the workplace. Employers should consult with employees or their representatives to establish sensible means to cope with high temperatures.

These regulations do not specify a maximum working temperature. No meaningful upper limit can be imposed because in many workplaces extreme temperature is not seasonal, rather it is created by the work, for example, in a glass works or foundry. Factors other than air temperature, i.e. radiant temperature, humidity and air velocity, become more significant and the interaction between them become more complex with rising temperatures. In such environments it is still possible to work safely provided appropriate controls are present.

Detailed guidance on workplace temperature and thermal comfort is available on the HSE website. This includes how to undertake a thermal comfort assessment and measures that can be taken to improve thermal comfort.

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