7,635
of 10,000 signatures
To Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP
A couple of summers ago, our kitchen air-con broke down. The company didn't fix it. Not in the budget, they said. Temperatures hit above 35 degrees. We were working in front of hot stoves and grills, barely any ventilation, not enough cold drinks. Literally melting.
This is happening in kitchens, warehouses, care homes and shops across the country, every day. Essential workers who can't work from home, can't close the kitchen, can't leave the ward, have no choice but to turn up and sweat it out or freeze. Meanwhile, with energy costs rising, broken air-con is quietly saving employers money. Workers pay the price.
Right now there are only recommendations on maximum workplace temperatures. No legal limit. No compulsion. No consequences.
That has to change.
Petition text
We're calling on the government to set a legally binding maximum workplace temperature, and to make sure employers actually follow it.
The current system relies on guidance that companies can simply ignore. Workers in kitchens, warehouses, care homes and shops, people who have no option to work from home and no way to walk away, are being left without protection when temperatures become dangerous.
We want the government to:
- Set a legal maximum working temperature, with specific thresholds for physical and sedentary work, that applies to all employers in both the public and private sector.
- Give the HSE real enforcement powers, including the ability to issue fines and improvement notices where employers fail to maintain safe temperatures or repair failed systems within a reasonable timeframe.
- Create a clear, accessible route for workers to report breaches, including anonymous reporting, without fear of retaliation.
- Require employers to have a temperature contingency plan so workers aren't left waiting days for a fix with no protection in the meantime.
No worker should have to choose between their health and their job because their employer won't fix the air-con.
30 Jan 2023
We need more support and more signatures.
As more and more employers are taking advantage of there being no law regarding the matter and ignoring reccomendations making workers suffer while working and to top it up not even compensating for the fact.
Introduce legal maximum temperatures at work
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Introduce legal maximum temperatures at work
Introduce legal maximum temperatures at work
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