Posted By Howard
THe following is taken from L24 Approved Code of Practice and Guidance to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992

49.In parts of the workplace other than workrooms, such as sanitary facilities or rest facilities, the temperature should be reasonable in all the circumstances including the length of time people are likely to be there. Changing rooms and shower rooms should not be cold.

So yes you are correct in that the canteen should be maintained at a reasonable temperature.

H

Posted By Howard
It says it should be reasonable, sauna, doesnt sound reasonable. If one of our employees raised this with me I would certainly look into it further.

H

Posted By gham
Workplace health safety and WELFARE regulations

Ventilation
6.—(1) Effective and suitable provision shall be made to ensure that every enclosed workplace is ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or purified air.

(2) Any plant used for the purpose of complying with paragraph (1) shall include an effective device to give visible or audible warning of any failure of the plant where necessary for reasons of health or safety.

(3) This regulation shall not apply to any enclosed workplace or part of a workplace which is subject to the provisions of—
(a) section 30 of the Factories Act 1961[7];
(b) regulations 49 to 52 of the Shipbuilding and Ship-Repairing Regulations 1960[8];
(c) regulation 21 of the Construction (General Provisions) Regulations 1961[9];
(d) regulation 18 of the Docks Regulations 1988[10].


Temperature in indoor workplaces
7.—(1) During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable.

(2) A method of heating or cooling shall not be used which results in the escape into a workplace of fumes, gas or vapour of such character and to such extent that they are likely to be injurious or offensive to any person.

(3) A sufficient number of thermometers shall be provided to enable persons at work to determine the temperature in any workplace inside a building.

Given the nature of activities being under taken in the canteen you could argue that the temperature is too high as such it is unreasonable, simply switching the AC on does not solve this as there may not be a supply of fresh air, which if there was it is likley that the temperature would be lower. If the AC has heat pumps I bet that they would be working in the winter because the place is too cold. Why does the AC not work, has it run out of gas, what would the carbon trust have to say about that. All Refrigeration on the larger aiport owners site is all registered, regrdless of who lets the space the weights and type of gas are recorded so the AP has a complete register of what is there. Im sure that faulty equipment should be reported in case there has been a loss of gas, this should be investigated

It may not be a workplace but it does form part of the welfare facilities. Is your wife employed by the airport or buy one of the retail/sevices units on site. She may be able to make a complaint furhter up the line

Posted By Descarte
Lower limits yes, uppers, no. = I would disagree

There are upper limits governed by a combination of type of work, PPE worn, duration and type of work load(ie manual handling), humidity (should be below 60%? work place regs) and common sense coupled a=with a WBGTi reading

I would say where temperatures are 30-32 Deg C and work being undertaken is considered active or light manual handling a 45 minute work to 15 minute rest ratio should be addopted if temperatures, air circulation, humidity cannot be reduced and PPE is being worn. A fresh supply of cool water and rest areas which are cool also need to be provided for staff to recover.

Most major work places including the military, Oil and gas industry etc.. take the WGBTi (or WGBTo for outdoors) in to account when planning or dealing with work in areas of high temperature and activity

FYI:

http://www.ala.usmc.mil/flags/

Heat Index Heat Disorder

130°F or higher Heat stroke or sunstroke likely with continued exposure

105°F to 129°F Sunstroke, heat cramps or heat exhaustion likely and heat stroke possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity

90°F to 104°F Sunstroke, heat cramps and heat exhaustion possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity

80°F to 89°F Fatigue possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity

American guidance

Acclimatized
Demands ---Light--Moderate--Heavy--Very Heavy
100% WORK -29.5-----27.5-----26.0

75% WORK --30.5-----28.5-----27.5
25% REST

50:50------31.5-----29.5-----28.5-----27.5

25% WORK---32.5-----31.0-----30.0-----29.5
75% REST

Unacclamatised-
Demands --Light Moderate Heavy Very Heavy
100% WORK---27.5----25.0-----22.5

75% WORK----29.0----26.5-----24.5
25% REST

50:50-------30.0----28.0-----26.5-----25.0

25% WORK----31.0----29.0-----28.0-----26.5
75% REST

Fluid replacement guidelines

http://www.ala.usmc.mil/safety/files/encl1.pdf

So ok, its not UK law its common sense for people working in hot working environments, with PPE, undertaking light to heavy work

How would this apply to canteens, well if your working there, depends on the type of work your doing and the WGBTi. This has always been commong practice in most of my previous positions. Not often applied to office workers due to lack of manual work, though provision of water, humidity and air movement is still important

Waits for flames (mind the pun)

Posted By Chris Pope
The HSL (the HSE's Laboratory) have a thermal comfort expert who devised the HSE website calculator which predicts % of people likely to experience discomfort based on what they are doing, wearing, air movement, temperature and relative humidity. Can't remember his name though, sorry

Posted By ME
A nice employer may submit to the request for a more reasonable working environment but you won't make it stick in law.

I know this because I was an inspector with the HSE and our offices were too hot in summer (and we weren't allowed to sneakily wedge open fire doors!). Every summer employees would ring up and moan that it was too hot where they were working. Our response was 'yes, it's too hot here too, what do you expect us to do about it'.

Gasp, shock, horror....but true. Upper limits aren't law. As long as you have access to water and adequate rest breaks it's just not enforceable.

Your best tactic might be to say that they'll lose customers if it's too hot but if you work in the kitchens it's an accepted hazard of the job and if it's the staff canteen you haven't got a hope in hell. Sorry, that may sound harsh but the reality is that most people work in places that aren't geared up for hot conditions...me too ( I hear echoing around the country!)!!

Posted By Breezy
The problem with that suggestion though Descarte is that it would be interpreted as:

"elf & safety bans productive work from May through August!"

Either that or it would perpetuate blackouts and electricity cuts as consumption of resources by newly installed air con units increases.

There has to be the flexibility given by the term 'reasonable'.