2023-06-12 12:47:01
After a weekend of warm weather, most people are now back to work. Some look for the air conditioning in the office, others mess around with fans and bottles of frozen water at home. Meanwhile, there is a lot of discussion regarding adjusting schedules or shifting work.
“A lot of work is currently being discussed on the work floor regarding measures to keep working in this heat as pleasant as possible,” says Jannes van der Velde of the AWVN. “In the Netherlands there is no clear legislation when it comes to working in the heat,” says Kitty Jong, vice-chairman of the trade union FNV.
In any case, employers must ensure that employees do not develop health problems. “How you do that, employers and employees have to come up with and discuss that together,” says Van der Velde. DE FNV wants the government to set clear limits for working in the heat.
To keep things bearable in the workplace, you should above all use your common sense, according to the AWVN. “Turn off devices that give off a lot of heat, such as the coffee maker. It’s too hot for coffee right now.” Drink a lot of water especially. And there is still more low-hanging fruit, such as simply lowering the blinds in time.
“But you can also look at the organization of the work. Make the long breaks shorter and take short breaks more often, for example. Or switch to a tropical schedule.” You start earlier in the day and finish earlier. That helps.
Anyone who chooses to work from home must arrange for it to remain manageable. “Employees are not entitled to a fan,” says Van der Velde.
‘Number of complaints regarding working in the heat will increase’
The FNV has a Working Climate app on which you can see whether it is still safe to work in terms of temperature. In recent years, the union has received more and more complaints from employees regarding working in the heat. “We expect this to increase further due to global warming and weather extremes,” says Jong.
According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), temperatures above 26 degrees are “an extra physical burden” and measures must be considered. For those in the office, that is from 28 degrees. For those who do physically demanding work, 26 degrees is the limit.
Only if there is “a clearly palpable air flow”, otherwise the limit drops to 25 degrees. For very heavy physical work, these limits are set at 25 degrees and 23 degrees respectively. Those temperatures will certainly be easily achieved in the first half of this week.
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