MP Hannah Spencer to table maximum working temperature bill

The move follows last week’s government pledge to launch a public consultation on safe workplace temperatures.

Green MP Hannah Spencer is to propose a parliamentary bill on a maximum working temperature in the UK.

If passed, the legislation will create an independent body that would recommend a maximum safe workplace temperature and how it should be implemented.

Currently, there is no legal upper limit as to how hot a working environment can be, despite the lower limit being set at 16°C (13°C for strenuous work).

“From bus and train drivers sweltering in cabins that are hotter than the soaring temperatures outside and bakers working in temperatures of over 40ºC, to builders whose workplaces offer no respite from the heat, the government has a duty to protect all of us,” Spencer told The Guardian.

The recently elected MP for Gorton and Denton added that it was “absurd” there was no maximum limit: “This is something workers and trade unions have been raising the alarm about for many years – it shouldn’t have taken this long to act, but the unsafe temperatures we’re seeing now should be a huge wake-up call.

“We’ve seen absolute chaos as a result of these recent temperatures, and such a massive human cost, yet we haven’t heard a peep from government about how they plan to protect us all.”

Last week the government pledged to hold a public consultation on workplace temperatures. Stephen Timms, secretary of state for the Department of Work and Pensions, said: “This year, HSE will also be launching a public consultation on proposed changes to the Approved Code of Practice for the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, including those relating to workplace temperature.”

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