temperature at work!

[shredder]

hello! wonder if anyone can help? is there some kind of law/guidelines on temperatures at work? in the joyous ntl office today it is absolutely freezing everyone is cold! my hands are going numb!

[Angua]

yes was minimum 69 degrees f

see here

[Paul]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/94-1.htm

27. Temperature16: The high concentration of employees and the high level of occupation also increases the risk of uncomfortably high temperatures. In addition, the computers which can be in use '24/7' also generate heat. If the temperature is dropped in unoccupied areas of call centres to save energy, the occupied areas are at risk of becoming too cold. This may be of particular concern on night shifts when a slightly warmer environment is likely to be required to compensate for the natural fall in body temperature. These factors must be properly controlled so an acceptable temperature is maintained.

28. Legal requirements: Regulation 7 of WPR1 requires that 'During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable.' A reasonable temperature for a call centre will be around 19oC14. It is not just air temperature that must be considered to achieve this level of thermal comfort: Relative humidity (refer to paragraph 30), air movement, number of people in the workplace (refer to paragraph 22), equipment and solar gain also need to be considered to ensure comfortable thermal conditions. Air temperature should be measured with an ordinary dry bulb thermometer, close to workstations, at working height and away from windows, taking into account any localised effects of sunlight and radiant heat from office machinery. A sufficient number of thermometers should be distributed throughout the work area to allow employees to monitor the temperature. The provision of fans or heaters can help alleviate localised problems.

[Jon M]

According to the beeb, the temperature is around 20 all over the UK
How about turning the aircon temperature up a bit?

[deadite66]

i love it when it's cold

[grandmaster]

put a coat and hat on and see if the bosses say anything

[shredder]

haha i have my coat on! not got a had sadly...but nope they said nothing!

[Paul]

Originally Posted by shredder

haha i have my coat on! not got a had sadly...but nope they said nothing!

If everyone in the area is cold then you need to ask for the temperature to be adjusted as they are obliged by H&S regulations to provide a comfortable working enviroment. If they refuse ask to speak to the company Health and Safety representative about the working conditions.

[shredder]

everyone is cold! we just turned the thermostat up but it's made no difference! might go stand outside so it feels warmer when i come in!

[deadite66]

set fire to the trashcans :P

[zoombini]

Factories act used to say that it had to be 60F after the first hour or you could go home.

There is no specific maximum temperature set, but if it's too cold & everyone agrees you should be able to get the heating turned on/up.

Complain to managment, a cold office is not good for sitting down working in front of a terminal.

Post #3 has the best info that you can quote to your bosses.

And if your bosses office is warm then just drag your chair in tehre & ask for some work in thier office.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Im sure there will be a rise in temperature "Coming Soon"

[marky]

you could allways try and phone the managment but you would probably be redirected to the wrong department

[zoombini]

Ring a local te,porary heating company up, use your bosses name & order some temporary heaters

[Jules]

Tell me were your office and I will come and sit in it, the heat is driving me mad!