A new report by the Fabian Society thinktank has recommended that a maximum indoor temperature working law giving people a day off if workplace temperatures surpass 30C should be mandated by government.
Among other things, the report highlights inequalities in who bears the brunt of the impacts of climate breakdown and puts responsibility on bosses and landlords to stop people from overheating.
Available data shows that an increasing number of people are dying from excessive heat in the UK. For instance, more than 4,500 people died in England in 2022 due to high temperatures, which was the largest figure on record. Between 1988 and 2022, almost 52,000 deaths associated with the hottest days were recorded in England, with a third of them occurring since 2016, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. During the same 35-year period analysed, more than 2,000 people died in Wales due to the warm temperatures.
Based on advice from experts from a range of organisations including the National Infrastructure Commission, the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford, the Fabians have drawn up a plan to prevent illness and death from the increasing extreme heat predicted to happen in the UK due to climate breakdown.
These include introducing a specific maximum indoor working temperature law, including the ability to withdraw labour if workplace temperatures surpass 30C, or 27C if doing strenuous work.
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The report found that “low-paid workers often lack sufficient access to water, can not escape the heat, and have to wear uniforms or personal protective equipment (PPE) designed for cooler temperatures. It also found that hospitality and manual workers are most likely to face excessive heat, but also employees in education establishments and offices can suffer if they are working on higher floors or in areas with big windows and poor ventilation. Workers in better-off households are less likely to work in jobs where they are at risk of overheating.
Authors of the report also suggest that a duty should be put on landlords to prevent overheated homes, based on the existing requirements for landlords to prevent cold homes. They added that homeless people should be protected by a requirement on councils to activate the severe weather emergency protocol in extreme weather events and provide temporary accommodation for rough sleepers for the duration of the severe weather alert, and a minimum of three nights.
The report also calls for tougher climate resilience requirements on infrastructure providers, and a ban on the burning on upland peatlands as well as investment in the maintenance of flood defences currently in poor condition.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
