EDM: Working in high temperatures

Working in high temperatures

Tabled by Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour) 25 signatures

The motion

That this House is concerned at the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves being experienced in the UK, as a result of man-made climate change; notes that surveys of workplace health and safety representatives show that high temperatures are one of their top concerns; regrets that whereas the law specifies a minimum working temperature, no corresponding maximum figure exists in statute; further regrets that the consequences of this range from dizziness, tiredness, asthma, throat infections and, in extreme cases, heat stroke and death; believes that in the absence of specific legal protection, current recommendations for employers to maintain a reasonable temperature within the workplace are impossible to enforce unless a worker is seriously injured or killed from heat stress; further believes that law should spell out the responsibilities which employers owe to their workers experiencing high temperatures in their place of employment; commends the tireless work of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union on this issue, having launched the Cool It! campaign in 2011; and calls on the Government to back the TUC's call for a maximum working temperature of 30 degrees Celsius, or 27 degrees Celsius for those doing strenuous work, beyond which employers would have a statutory duty to introduce effective control measures, such as installing ventilation or moving staff away from windows and sources of heat.

Signatories (25)