Legal maximum working temperature: HSE to review workplace code of practice

Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, speaking in Westminster yesterday, revealed that HSE is to launch a public consultation later this year. It is likely to seek views on updating official guidance, which may include setting clear thresholds for a maximum recommended working temperature.

It comes as unions including Unison and the TUC reiterated calls for a specific legal maximum temperature for indoor work of 30°C, or 27°C for strenuous work.

Unions are calling for a new legal maximum temperature for indoor work of 30°C. Photograph: iStock

A Parliamentary petition for a legally binding maximum working temperature of 25°C for all workplaces, has also this week garnered over 6,000 signatures. 

HSE currently provides guidance for employers to manage the risk to workers, including from extreme heat, said Timms yesterday.

The regulator has also issued advice for employers on how to meet their legal duties in the current hot weather, he added, before revealing that HSE is progressing a wider review of the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) for the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, including those relating to workplace temperature, to “ensure it is fit for purpose for a modern workplace.”

The urgency of the review is underscored by the weather. The UK has officially seen eight days of temperatures of 34°C or higher, the Met Office confirmed today – the highest number ever recorded.

Heat will gradually ease across southern and eastern parts of the UK during the weekend and into next week, although the Met Office says “very warm weather is set to continue.”

British Safety Council has said it is time to update the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations to include explicit protections against excessive heat and cold. "This should be supported by statutory guidance that establishes practical trigger temperatures and proportionate control measures rather than relying solely on fixed maximum or minimum limits," says the policy statement on its website.