Letting temperature levels fall could make workplace costs rise

As the winterís latest cold snap sends thermometers plunging back below zero, the UKís largest provider of in-depth business advice and support is advising employers to make sure they donít feel the heat by failing to maintain the legal minimum workplace temperature.

Croner Consulting issued the advice after temperatures across the UK failed to rise above freezing.

Health and safety regulations require employers maintain a íreasonableí temperature in the workplace, defined as at least 16 degrees Celsius in a workroom. Where work involves ísevere physical effort,í a minimum temperature of 13 degrees is acceptable.

Regulations also state that sufficient thermometers must be provided to enable workers to check the temperature of indoor workplaces.

Trevor Davies, health and safety expert at Croner, which is part of Wolters Kluwer UK, says that problems can easily arise on premises where offices are adjacent to outside or unheated areas, such as warehouses or storerooms.

He says: Office temperatures can very quickly fall in areas where doors are constantly being opened or where staff are located next to open spaces. When staff are too cold, they may be less productive and more prone to becoming
ill.

Employers falling foul of the minimum workplace temperature regulations are failing to meet basic health and safety requirements, although the problem should be easily solved with the addition of heaters and by ensuring staff are aware of the difference they can make through simply closing doors and windows.

Outside temperatures are obviously beyond employersí control, but they must make sure they provide ísuitable and sufficientí warm workwear for employees working outside, and that the conditions in which theyíre working, such as ice or snow, donít form an unmanaged health and safety risk in themselves.

The penalties that companies expose themselves to vary, depending on the seriousness of the individual breach, but in the most extreme cases, unlimited fines and a prison sentence of up to two years could theoretically be imposed.

If companies are experiencing repeated problems with workplace temperatures, it could indicate their risk assessment policies need to be reviewed before further, more serious problems arise in other areas of health and safety management.

Croner Consulting helps thousands of businesses to manage health & safety effectively and comply with the responsibilities imposed by current and future health & safety legislation. This allows them greater time to run their business with the reassurance that they are in the hands of experts. Croner Consultingís specialists include 60 health & safety professionals and 15 environment officers. For more information call 0800 634 1700.