I'd expect that to be pretty unbearable for any length of time.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/te...rature/thermal/step1.htm

Irish legislation states that workplace temperatures for sedentary work should be a minimum of 17.5 Celsius at each workstation within one hour of starting work. While no maximum is prescribed it is genarally accepted to be about 21 Celsuis. I took a reading of 42 Celsuis in a pantry off our main kitchen (large catering type). I immediately requested portable air con units be rented.

<Tongue very firmly placed in cheek> How about relocating to Shetland - we reached the giddy heights of 16 degrees a few days ago, back down to 15 today.

It isn't just the heat but also the humidity. When I was working in Libya I was based on the coast (tanker loading terminal). High relative humidity and very uncomfortable. Visiting the production centre well into the desert the temperature there was several degrees higher, but as the humidity was much lower it felt much more comfortable. To quote Occupational Health by Harrington, Gill et al: "For example, sweating ceases to be an effective means of heat los at ambient temperatures about 37 deg C at a relative humidity of 80% or greater." Chris

Every time a heatwave occurs in the UK, one or more threads about excessive workplace temperatures related to hot weather appear on this forum. Therefore, it's no surprise to see this thread. However, it is somewhat unusual for such a thread to appear as late as 11 days after the present heatwave began throughout the UK. On second thoughts I had better rephrase that last bit as "throughout MOST of the UK", otherwise some forum readers in remote places such as Muckle Flugga might be prompted to respond to say they haven't had any heatwave recently! p.s. Out of curiosity I've just done a search to see if the above posting contains the first ever reference to Muckle Flugga on this forum, and found that it's evidently the third one - the previous ones being on 29.1.10 and 4.4.11 ! :-)

Currently 29 degrees C with 41% RH at my workplace with two windows providing a through draught and ready access to my fridge. 7PM in Bury. But I'm lovin' it!

Here's another aspect to consider - Though some people think the unpleasant smell of body odour (BO) comes from sweat, it actually comes from bacteria on skin which breaks down sweat into acids, especially protein-rich sweat from armpits and other hairy areas. As people sweat more during heatwaves and bacteria thrive and multiply more readily in warm moist conditions, it's likely that more people will have BO during heatwaves and/or stronger BO and thus add to the discomfort arising from excessive heat and humidity in workplaces and elsewhere. Therefore, where feasible, measures in workplaces which help to lower excessive temperature and humidity should be encouraged so as to minimise sweating, while people themselves can help by washing more frequently. Equally important is regular changing and laundering of clothing: During a hot summer in the 1980s a friend of mine and her colleagues experienced problems with a notably niffy supervisor. The supervisor was most surprised when a personnel officer had a diplomatic chat with him about his pungency and asserted that he had a shower every day. However, further discussion by the personnel officer revealed that the supervisor, a youngish man who lived alone, didn't change or launder his clothing on a sufficiently frequent basis. Perhaps he had a limited or impaired sense of smell and/or wanted to save money by not over-using his washing machine. Anyhow, the personnel officer successfully persuaded the supervisor to improve his arrangements and the problem was solved. Further details (including the significance of eccrine and apocrine glands) can be found for example on the NHS webpage at http://www.nhs.uk/condit.../Pages/Introduction.aspx Also, for anyone keen to acquire a new word to sprinkle in conversations, the technical/medical term for BO is bromhidrosis ! :-)

Hi All, I agree with Invictus, bring on the autum :) Currently I am working in a busy transport porta-cabin which is located inside a building, and guess what the air conditioning has broken, I have no idea what the tempreature is at the moment, "oh Joy" its going to be a long wait for the repair person :( So all I can say at the moment is bromhidrosis is getting stronger by the second, bring on home time !!

It won't be long before we have posts about clearing up the snow in the car park.

Well that's what left of the steel and metallurgical industry gone, along with baking, cement works, mines, and anything that does not involve working in a nice office in Westminster.