As temperatures rise across the UK, organisations should remember that heat exposure is a foreseeable workplace risk and must be managed in the same way as any other health and safety hazard.
Legal considerations
There is no prescribed maximum working temperature under UK law. However, this does not remove the obligation on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of employees. This includes conducting suitable and sufficient risk assessments, maintaining a reasonable working environment and implementing appropriate control measures where risks are identified.
Recent commentary, including reporting by the British Safety Council, has been clear with regulators and trade unions criticising employers for acting too late and too slow, rather than planning ahead. Heatwaves are no longer exceptional - they are predictable and recurring and expectations on employers are shifting accordingly.
Importantly, heat risks should be viewed no differently to other seasonal workplace hazards, such as snow and ice. Each presents foreseeable risks requiring assessment, planning, and control measures in advance.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has reinforced that heat must be treated like any other workplace hazard and managed accordingly. A failure to do so may expose businesses to regulatory scrutiny, enforcement action, personal injury claims and reputational damage.
Practical steps
From a practical perspective, a proportionate, risk-based approach should include:
- Reviewing and updating risk assessments to reflect heat-related hazards and identify vulnerable individuals
- Implementing workplace controls, such as ventilation, air cooling, shading or relocating workstations
- Adjusting working arrangements, including dress-code, hours, workloads and rest breaks during peak temperatures
- Providing ready access to drinking water and encouraging regular hydration
- Ensuring appropriate training and supervision, so employees can recognise and report symptoms of heat stress
While warmer weather is usually welcome, the impact on workers should not be underestimated. Working in overheated environments is not only uncomfortable but can increase fatigue, reduce concentration and productivity and exacerbate the effects of poor sleep during hot periods. In high-risk settings this may also elevate the likelihood of mistakes, accidents and heat-related illness.
There is a growing debate whether the current legal framework goes far enough. Calls for maximum working temperatures and improved cooling across schools, hospitals and other buildings reflect a wider concern that the UK is not sufficiently adapted to higher temperatures.
Particular care should be taken in relation to manual and outdoor workers, as well as those with underlying health conditions or limited acclimatisation, given their increased susceptibility to heat-related harm.
Conclusions
The legal framework allows flexibility in how organisations respond, but the direction of travel is clear. There is an increasing expectation - from regulators and industry bodies alike - that heat risk is anticipated, assessed and actively managed.
Taking timely, documented steps now will not only support compliance but also protect employee wellbeing and maintain operational resilience during periods of sustained hot weather.
For more information or advice, please contact a member of our Corporate Insurance & Risk Team.
