Medical Info

This year the UK has been hit badly by winters and it has raised concerns regarding the temperature that the companies have to maintain inside their building. While there are some discussions about temperature increasing, this does not seem to be happening soon.

GMB National Health and safety officer, John McClean, stated that the law prescribes minimum temperature for a workplace depending on the type of work being performed there. The temperature can be lower in a building where physical labour is being done. However, if the temperature goes below the minimum, the companies will have to put extra heaters and make sure that it rises to the prescribed legal minimum.

He said that the weather has also caused the water to freeze which often makes the place slippery and people get injured. To avoid that, a large part of the workforce has been deployed to grit the ice. In the event of someone getting hurt in spite of this, the companies will have to give them some other work which they can do while recovering.

Workplace Law Network’s weather fact sheet can also be helpful in understanding what to do in order to avoid such incidents. In addition to stating that a proper risk assessment is essential to it, the fact sheet suggests following measures:

The work should be arranged in a manner that comparatively cold parts of the days can be avoided.

Movement of workers inside the building should be via heated vans or cabin.

They should be given breaks to have warm drinks and to warm themselves up.

The work should be done on a rotation basis so that no one is exposed to cold for too long.

Workplace Law Group specialises in employment law, health and safety and premises management. They provide information, advice, training and consulting for organisations throughout the UK, to help them comply with the law and manage people in the workplace.