Green MP Hannah Spencer aims to pass law on maximum workplace temperatures | Politics
Hannah Spencer will introduce a bill to parliament that would pave the way for maximum workplace temperatures in the UK, as the country grapples with increasingly frequent heatwaves.
If approved, the legislation would create an independent body to recommend maximum safe workplace temperatures and determine how those recommendations should be implemented.
Campaigners and unions have criticized the UK for having health and safety guidance on minimum workplace temperatures but no guidance for maximum temperatures, despite rising summer temperatures due to the climate crisis.
Unison and the TUC have called for the maximum indoor working temperature to be 30°C, or 27°C for strenuous work.
Spencer, who worked as a plumber before being elected as an MP in a by-election in February, spoke of the “unfair” temperatures tradesmen had to work in.
“From bus and train drivers suffocating in hotter cabins due to the rising temperatures outside, to bakers working in temperatures above 40 degrees, to builders whose workplaces are suffocating from the heat, the government has a duty to protect us all,” he said.
“I asked a constituent to contact me about the horrific conditions he encountered while laying asphalt in Gorton and Denton in temperatures he described as unbearable.”
He said it was “ridiculous” that the country did not have maximum temperature guidance: “This is an issue that workers and unions have been alarming about for years; it shouldn’t have taken this long to take action, but the unsafe temperatures we’re seeing now should be a huge wake-up call.”
“We have seen complete chaos as a result of recent temperatures and a huge human cost, but we have not heard a peep from the government about how they plan to protect us all.”
He called on the government to look to countries such as Spain, where maximum temperatures apply depending on the type of work performed and workers can adjust their working hours during heatwaves to avoid having to work during the hottest hours of the day.
Spencer’s bill is expected to receive cross-party support and will be backed by left-wing Labor MPs Rebecca Long-Bailey, Alex Sobel and Nadia Whittome, as well as Scottish National party’s Graham Leadbitter, Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn.
The Health and Safety Executive said maximum workplace temperatures could not be applied because excessive heat could be caused by activities in the workplace (for example, ovens in a bakery) rather than weather conditions.
There is no legal minimum temperature but the HSE’s code of practice states it should be 16C (61F) or 13C for strenuous work.
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In May, a report by the Climate Change Committee, which advises the Government, included a recommendation to set maximum working temperature regulations to “address the increasing risks to workers’ safety from high temperatures and encourage the implementation of necessary cooling”.
He did not recommend a specific temperature and ministers did not issue a response.
However, the government has announced that the HSE will launch a public consultation on the issue this year to seek views on updating its official guidance, which could include setting temperature thresholds.
Temperatures have exceeded 34C nine times this year, breaking the seven-day record set in 1976 and 2020. For the first time, six separate days of temperatures of 35C or higher were seen. The record-breaking heat wave would not have been possible without the burning of fossil fuels that has led to the climate crisis.
The scorching conditions across much of England and Wales will continue until at least Wednesday, forecasters say.
