by Will Jones
Labour is considering making it illegal to work when it is “too hot” as part of measures to “protect people from the impacts of climate change”. The Telegraph has more.
Emma Reynolds, the Environment Secretary, has said she will “carefully consider” proposals including a maximum working temperature that would force firms to let workers down tools during heatwaves.
The measure, recommended by the influential Climate Change Committee (CCC), would aim to “incentivise” businesses to protect workers by keeping their workplaces cool.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the workplace regulator, is developing plans for extra protection during hot weather, but is expected to stop short of setting a specific legal maximum.
The controversial recommendation for an upper limit is set out in a new report from the CCC advising ministers on the risks posed by climate change in the UK and how best to manage them.
It calls for a raft of measures to protect people against worsening heat, floods and droughts, including the rollout of air conditioning in hospitals, care homes, schools and prisons.
In a list of key proposals to help the UK adapt to more intense heat, the CCC urged the Government to “set maximum temperature regulations for workplaces”.
The report said: “Maximum working temperature regulations would address the increasing risks that high temperatures pose to workers’ safety and incentivise the deployment of the necessary cooling. Businesses are largely responsible for investing in their own adaptations but must ensure that workplaces and working practices are safe for employees, including for those working outside.”
It pointed to examples in Spain, which sets maximum legal indoor temperatures of 27°C for sedentary work and 25°C for light physical work, and other countries that enforce upper limits for outdoor labour.
The committee noted that Spanish employers are responsible for meeting the requirements and staff can report them to labour inspections or unions if they fail to comply.
In response to the CCC’s report, Reynolds said: “We are acting to protect people and places from the impacts of climate change that are already being felt across the UK – from flooding to extreme heat and drought.
“Robust, independent science is essential and we will carefully consider the climate change committee’s latest recommendations to drive further action.”
Of course, forcing employers to turn up the air conditioning is hardly going to help them use less energy and reduce their ‘carbon footprint’.
Worth reading in full.
What’s wrong with a simple siesta on the one or two days that might occur in mid summer? It’s almost June and the temperatures have been on the low side ~14C
I haven’t put the jumpers away yet.
Talking of hot… our Chancellor went to a petrol station in Leeds… and encountered white van man. Hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DtbLhvk7X9Y
Afternoon Siestas have been a thing since forever. That is how the spanish have handled heat since forever.
That and the free wine on the lunch tables for the workers before they break for siesta
14C!
Up north, we can only dream of such blamy weather
Free lunch can’t be far behind.
Good idea.
Yeah what happens when the workers complain about the air-conditioning being too hot in winter, and others say it is still too cool?
Come on reloaded workers want the right to choose when it’s to hot or cold to work … that should really drive productivity as a lefty wet dream. What is next universal living wage being paid just for your poor genes being on the planet?
Coming from the guy who thinks work is having to leave his mom’s basement to get lunch.
Yeah – if any country on this planet needs such an idea,
than it’s England with its infamous 5 minute heatwaves that happen 3 times per century.
On the other hand: they somehow need to lie a climate crisis into existence.
I’m guessing you work for a local authority
Down here, 38ºC is a sort of unofficial cut-off temperature.
Unless the job absolutely has to be done then just keep up the input of H2O.
“Reynolds said: “We are acting to protect people and places from the impacts of climate change that are already being felt across the UK – from flooding to extreme heat and drought.”
Emma Reynolds is the Environment Secretary and she has just confirmed that she is a climate alarmist who hasn’t bothered to read the science or data. We are being governed by morons.
Labour seems to think that workers’ bodies are as weak as Labours brains are .
😉
Another skivers’ charter brought to you by Labour! And what if you’re WFH?
The Labour Party
ConsidersEmbraces Slave LabourSuch good virtuous people
The UK has backtracked on its pledge to ban slave labour from its renewable supply chain to meet Ed Miliband’s Net Zero goals.
Will the username object to slave labour in our renewable supply chain as I and most others do, or will he not?
How much you wanna bet that the Chinese do not have any “workplace standards” for their slave labor force?
A work week of 12 hours/day 6 days a week is pretty standard. One is lucky to work in an office with AC.
Paid labor didn’t replace slave labor because it was morally superior. The invention of the steam engine combined with only paying for the minimum number of people needed….. made the slave based economy uncompetitive due to its food, housing, and worker support costs….We are now experiencing something of the same approaching problem in the “minimum wage and welfare” economy of today…Elites of WEF- trained type are hoping that a CO2 emissions based economy can provide enough money-spinning to see us through to what they think is coming….the old “happy-workers-singing-in-the-sunshine-picking-cotton while they-count-the-bales-and-own-the-fields” scenario.
“happy-workers-sitting-under-the-flourescents-clicking-keyboard while they-fill-in-the-spreadsheets-and-own-the-cubes”
It’s easy to laugh at this idea, but the many layers of protective clothing mandated by “health & safety” for outside jobs turn a nice day into an ordeal, and a hot day into a life-threatening situation. My super fit 35 year old son, working as a surveyor on a construction site passed out from heat stress on what was admittedly a very hot day. But he was forced to wear essentially all the gear he would wear in winter.
The moral of this story is the government never saw a problem more government couldn’t fix. In this case it is a problem they contributed to creating in the first place.
Government thinking you might know better is an admission of failure on their petticratic part…so is unlikely to happen unless super-obvious
PPE can be selected for the climate and the appropriate equipment issued, including lightweight, sun blocking attire.
As an example of locations with a little more warmth, in Western Australia, let’s pick a town like Newman, iron ore extraction is the business. PPE is issued for hot AND cold weather conditions but you have to pick the correct one for the season.
https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_007176.shtml
Look at the numbers…. Work still occurs and people don’t drop dead.
PPE is mandated, long sleeves, gloves, hard hat, steel capped boots, long trousers, etc, etc.
And the UK wants to have paid sit down on days when it gets a little balmy.
The local saying in places like Newman is “Take a spoonful of cement and harden the …. up”.
When I went to school (in the 1970’s) in un-air-conditioned rooms, we would only be sent home if the Temps topped 40 degrees C.
That sounds about right. In Western Australia, 105F internal temp was the “down tools and go home” point. Not adhered to in the bush though. Used to work in temps up to 55C (130F), but only for short durations.
So true.. I grew up in the Sutherland shire.. can’t remember ever having school called off because it was too hot..
I can’t remember if we had air conditioning or not !
From the article: “In response to the CCC’s report, Reynolds said: “We are acting to protect people and places from the impacts of climate change that are already being felt across the UK – from flooding to extreme heat and drought.”
This is delusional. There is NO evidence CO2 (Climate Change) is causing any impacts to the Earth’s weather or climate, including the UK. None whatsoever. So what does Reynolds base these claims on? Answer: It is based on pure climate change propaganda.
Labour is trying to buy votes by spending employers money.
It is not only Miliband who has gone stark raving mad.
And the science is ‘robust’ again. That’s okay then.
If 25C (77F) is considered too hot, we would never get any work done around here.
Just looking at my local ten-day forecast, 75F today, 78F tomorrow, then 80, 82, 83, 81, 80, 82, 85.
The people in the UK have a very mild climate. They should wake up and appreciate what they have.
If it is a strong El Niño coming, my area could hit 115F or 120F. Count your Blessings!
I was thinking the same thing. I live in Brisbane and 25C would be an absolutely glorious temperature to work in.
At 77F, I’d consider turning the heat on.
at 72F I turn the air conditioning on because by 75 I’m sweating
“appreciate what they have”
Because when I think of walking around in a bathingsuit and flip-flops… I think UK.
“If 25C (77F) is considered too hot,”
And 27C is only about 81F.
That’s laughable.
I’ve worked in my yard when it was over 90F! (That’s a bit over 32C.)
Before I retired, I remember working inside one day. unloading a Chlorine truck. For safety reasons, the Chlorine building had no AC. (Don’t want to spread Chlorine gas around if there is a leak.)
One day it got so hot in the building that it was the first and only time I and the guy working with me took a break half through unloading the 1 ton cylinders. We went outside to cool off.
The heat index (factors in humidity) outside was 105F. (That’s almost 41C.)
I mow my lawn in 100F weather each year. I’ve switched to using a walk-behind, or one I can ride on, though. 🙂
The formula narrative is getting unbelievably boring now isn’t it? labour or democrats come up with some problem that doesn’t exist or they created. It sounds nicey nicey to the ideologists and the idiot voters. Normal people react. The “gobs on sticks” (to quote a reform politician – yes I’m in the UK right now) say that the normal people are racist, misogynist, far-right terrorists, or worse.
The clapping seals, like usernameretarded, clap along for the free fish, and they keep going until they get voted out …… coming to a government near you.
5 years of prosperity destruction, no consequences.
I blame Darwin.
boring
Its been boring for the last twenty years and more. But they never seem to tire of it. They just keep on upping the ante.
Darwin once was: The Most Dangerous Man in Britain
now he is just the author of silly ideas from the past
If you tried that in Australia, work would only happen 3-6 months of the year. In tropical countries never. What kind of snowflakes is UK breeding? 35-37 deg C is more reasonable.
Not a heat wave here. 5 consecutive days above 40 daytime and 30 night defines a heat wave here. Toughen up!
What kind of snowflakes is UK breeding
Climate anxious ones. One need only look at Europe around the Mediterranean and their historical working practices. For example in Northern Italy where my ball and chain hails from, it’s typical to open early and close around 12 or 1pm and then reopen at 3 or 4pm and go on until 6 or 7pm+.
More laws are not required, more common sense is.
Spent a very hot summer in tropical Mexico 60ish yrs ago. One worked from sun-up to very “hot”, then siesta, then more work until darkish. Then eat, and then promenade with the locals at the central plaza. Very civilized, very nice, very common sense…unfortunately probably gone now.
So the siesta is back on the table in Englishstan….never fully understood why it was never introduced there in the first place…must have been common sense…not suitable for the 21st century
Englishstan
Twinned with al-Dearborn
Was ‘the sun never set on the British Empire’ helped by conquered locals who liked siestas more than gunfights in funny hats?
You have a point though..
A lot of the UK population are from much warmer climates. !
Storytip: Well a good start was made at the Australia government science arm today
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/fears-for-australia-s-climate-change-adaptability-as-csiro-cuts-over-90-environment-research-jobs/ar-AA23HXOm?
90 down a few more to go.
Afternoon Siestas have been a thing since forever. That is how the spanish have handled heat since forever.
Ideological idiots governing from the top! Given the immense variability of human work and activities, there is no simple chart that determines site specific heat stress risk (as well as cold stress). I presume the UK has its equivalent of the U.S. OSHA.
https://www.osha.gov/heat-exposure/hazards
Prudent employers, as well as organizers of large public outdoor events are wise to be aware of heat or cold stress. Monitoring and provision of relief and first aid services are key to preventing casualties, especially in mass gatherings. If done properly and incorporated in the planning stages, neither heat nor cold are common factors preventing an activity.
Heat and cold are nothing new. Management and prevention of heat and cold stress are well-studied and regulated. Climate change as defined by these imbeciles has absolutely nothing to do with it.
To get a little perspective, maybe this woman climate zealot should spend some time in the tropics or subtropics where most of the world’s population live and work.
Maybe she should just get a real job?
This is not just a British issue, it’s also all over the EU. Also here in Austria a new heat protection directive came into force (on 1st of Jan). You now have to evaluate all working activities in open air. Even if you drive a vehicle with a cabin (you need to check for sufficient ventilation or AC). For construction work you have to develop a “heat protection plan”, maybe shifting working hours, putting up sun protection, providing sunscreen for the workers and making sure, that they apply it! And during summer you have to watch daily(!) for the actual heat warning on the website of the meterological agency. Because you need to apply the heat protection, when heat alarm level “yellow” is declared. Yellow is triggered when the feeled temperature (not the real one!) reaches 30°C (86 °F), so you can’t rely on your own readings of a thermometer on the worksite.
Nanny state craziness in full swing.
Combining humidity with temperature is legitimate.
The body can handle 40C with 5% relative humidity is easy to deal with for the body.
40C and 90% humidity is a whole different issue.
Having procedures for dealing with high temperature/humidity days is common sense and most companies that did lots of work outdoors had them already, even before the government got around to mandating it.
The problem with government regulations is both the one size fits all narrative that is standard fare for government plus the unrealistically low thresholds they usually apply.
The US Marine Corp figured all that out many years ago with their ‘Wet Bulb, Globe Temperature (WBGT) Index”. They use the WBGT Index to determine Flag Conditions
(https://www.ready.marines.mil/Stay-Informed/Natural-Hazards/Extreme-Heat/Flag-Conditions/) as a safety standard for how long individuals can safely work out of doors in hot humid conditions.
This from the same clueless crew that wants to ban air conditioners?
If 25C is the limit for light labor, what’s the limit for heavy labor? 22?
If that were the case, outdoor work would be banned for 9 months out of 12.
In Miami you would only be able to work outside for 1 or 2 weeks of the year.
Do they ever “work” to begin with?
I’m just wondering, do they ever get tired of being self-appointed nannies? It has to be exhausting work. I mean, where does it end?I worked at a glass shop on Cape Cod in the 70s where the temperature routinely got up to 110F or more, and that wasn’t counting the radiant heat you got exposed to from various furnaces and such. Sometimes, on hot days, we would work half hour on, half hour off to allow our bodies a break. There was the canal right there, but you weren’t allowed to swim in it (we did sometimes anyway). Currents, you know.
I recall this being proposed somewhere in the US, too, earlier this year. Anyone remember where that was?
Amazes me that a country around 50 degrees North Latitude can conceive of the thought ‘too hot to work’.
“The current population of India is approximately 1.48 billion people, making it the most populous country in the world. It accounts for roughly 17.8% of the total global population.”
Whatever happened to wear and hat and drink water? If you feel stressed, find some shade and rest.
So if I’m a government worker, step outside, and start to sweat; does that mean I can go home for the day? Yeah, no possible way for that system to be abused. /sarc