| As temperatures rise across the UK, many workers will be facing uncomfortable and potentially unsafe conditions. While there is currently no maximum legal working temperature, employers still have a duty to ensure working conditions do not put workers’ health at risk. All workplace reps can play role in raising concerns, supporting members and encouraging employers to take practical steps to reduce the impact of excessive heat. Whether you’re a health and safety rep, workplace representative, equality rep or branch officer, now is a good time to ask members how rising temperatures are affecting them at work. |
| Start the conversation |
| Share this short video with members and colleagues to help start conversations about heat at work and the impact rising temperatures can have on workers. Social media can be a powerful tool for raising awareness, encouraging members to share their experiences, and building support for improvements in the workplace. If you’re an office worker, bus or train driver, teacher or work in healthcare or hospitality or your working conditions are becoming too hot and you’d like to create your own short videos about heat at work, we encourage you to do so. Personal stories, workplace examples and practical advice can all help spread the message and engage members. Check out this webinar recording for tips on creating effective video explainers, including simple technical guidance to help you get started. |
| Too hot? Too cold? A guide for workplace reps on temperature |
| It’s important that that you feel equipped to support members facing uncomfortable or unsafe working conditions. Our Too Hot? Too Cold? guide explains workers’ rights on workplace temperatures and outlines practical measures employers can take to reduce risks and improve comfort. The guide also includes advice on how reps can raise concerns and negotiate improvements with employers. |
| Tackle high temperatures – practicalities |
| Regular workplace inspections are one of the most effective ways for reps to identify hazards and raise concerns with employers. An inspection focused on temperatures, can help assess whether working conditions remain safe and suitable for staff. This practical checklist. has been developed to help reps carry out a workplace inspection focused specifically on heat. It covers key issues such as ventilation, access to drinking water, rest breaks, indoor and outdoor working conditions. Use the checklist during inspections, discussions with members, and meetings with management to identify problems and secure improvements. Identifying problems is only the first step. Once you’ve completed a workplace temperature inspection or gathered feedback from members about excessive heat, it’s important to take those concerns to your employer and push for meaningful improvements. Negotiating agreed standards can help ensure that workers are protected. This collective agreement on heatwaves template provides a practical framework for discussions with employers. It includes measures such as risk assessments, adjustments to working practices, and clear procedures for responding to extreme temperatures. Reps can use the template to structure their demands, support negotiations, and secure lasting protections for members through a formal workplace agreement. As extreme heat becomes more common, schools and colleges need to be better prepared to protect staff and pupils. This protocol agreed by unions in education sets out how employers and reps can work together to plan for high temperatures, minimise disruption to learning, and create more comfortable, energy-efficient learning environments.. |
| Temperature discussions |
| This webinar recording brings together discussion and practical advice on dealing with heat in the workplace, offering useful insights for reps who are supporting members. It covers key approaches to raising concerns with employers and taking practical steps to improve conditions when temperatures become difficult to manage, |
| 8 steps employers can take to keep you cool |
| Sun protection: Prolonged sun exposure is dangerous for outdoor workers, so employers should provide sunscreen.Allowing flexible working: Giving staff the chance to come in earlier or stay later will let them avoid the stifling and unpleasant conditions of the rush hour commute. Bosses should also consider enabling staff to work from home while it’s hot.Keeping workplace buildings cool: Workplaces can be kept cooler and more bearable by taking simple steps such as opening windows, using fans, moving staff away from windows or sources of heat.Climate-proofing workplaces: Preparing our buildings for increasingly hot weather, by installing ventilation, air-cooling and energy efficiency measures.Temporarily relaxing their workplace dress codes: Encouraging staff to work in more casual clothing than normal – leaving the jackets and ties at home – will help them keep cool.Keeping staff comfortable: Allowing staff to take frequent breaks and providing a supply of cold drinks will all help keep workers cool.Talking and listening to staff and their union: Staff will have their own ideas about how best to cope with the excessive heat.Sensible hours and shaded areas for outdoor workers: Outside tasks should be scheduled for early morning and late afternoon, not between 11am-3pm when UV radiation levels and temperatures are highest. Bosses should provide canopies/shades where possible. |
| Heat at work across Europe |
| It’s not just here in the UK where temperatures are soaring, there is hot weather across Europe. Most countries do not rely on a fixed maximum workplace temperature, but instead place a general legal duty on employers to protect workers’ health and safety. In practice, this means employers are expected to assess heat risks and take appropriate action when temperatures become dangerous, such as adjusting working hours, increasing breaks, providing water, improving ventilation, or p. However, experience from recent heatwaves shows that the effectiveness of this approach can vary significantly depending on how consistently that employer duty is applied and enforced. You may have seen in our last newsletter that the campaign for maximum workplace temperatures has received a significant boost following recommendations from the Climate Change Committee,. They recommended that stronger protections are needed for workers during periods of extreme heat. As heatwaves become more frequent and severe, the TUC is calling for a clearer, enforceable standard through a maximum workplace temperature, and you can support that demand by signing our petition.SIGN THE PETITION |
| Trade union actions for climate change |
| 2025-26 has been declared the Year of Trade Union Climate Action. Take a look at the Trade Union Climate Action Hub to find resources and information about events, and networks to help you make this a year of impactful climate action for your workplace, your industry, and workers everywhere. Greener workplaces toolkitThis useful toolkit will help union officers and reps who want to take action on the climate emergency, future-proof their jobs, and negotiate for greener and fairer workplaces. It contains information, tools and ideas to help organise and raise awareness, along with negotiating and bargaining checklists on key workplace sustainability issues. |