Greens call for maximum workplace temperature laws
With heatwaves across Europe, the Scottish Greens have called on the UK government to introduce a maximum working temperature to protect workers being forced to work in extreme heat.
In Spain the maximum legal working temperature indoors is 27C for sedentary work and 25C for light physical work.
The party’s economy spokesperson, Patrick Harvie MSP, said:
“The temperatures we are seeing across Europe should not be normal. They are already having a devastating impact, and we have not even reached the height of summer.
“It can make a lot of workplaces into hot and unsafe environments and put workers at risk.
“All employers have a duty to provide a safe working environment, but too many workers are being left exposed to dangerous levels of heat. If those employers will not act, then the law must.
“Organisations should already be taking practical steps to reduce the risks, including allowing people to work from home where possible, changes to uniform requirements, delaying non-essential work, and ensuring no one loses pay if work needs to be paused.
“What we are seeing across Europe is not a one-off heatwave. Extreme heat is becoming increasingly normal as our climate changes, and, without change workers will pay the price.
“That is why a maximum working temperature is only going to become more urgent. Workers' rights must keep pace with a warming world.”