E-petition calls for temperature law

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has launched a petition to lobby the government on introducing a maximum workplace temperature law.

The approved code of practice to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 sets a minimum reasonable temperature is 16ºC (61ºF) or 13ºC (55ºF) where the work is physically strenuous. But the law does not mention a maximum reasonable temperature and the absence of such a standard can make it difficult for union reps to negotiate improvements in hot workplaces.

Usdaw union rep Ben Baldwin, who posted the e-petition on the No. 10 Downing Street website, pointed out that when the ventilation isn’t working, bakers can be expected to carry on working in very high temperatures.

The link to the petition is http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/workinghot/