The Fabian Society thinktank has highlighted in a recent report the need for the British government to mandate a maximum indoor temperature working law that gives people a day off if workplace temperatures exceed 30 degrees Celsius.
The report underscores inequalities in who faces the brunt of the impacts of climate breakdown and puts responsibility on employers and landlords to stop people from overheating. Dozens of people have been dying lately in the UK from excessive heat.
More than 4,500 people died in England last year due to high temperatures. Between 1988 and 2022, England recorded almost 52,000 fatalities associated with the hottest days, with a third of them recorded since 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Responsibility On Landlords To Prevent Overheated Homes
The Fabians have drawn up a plan to prevent the potential disturbance, considering advice from experts from a range of organisations, including the National Infrastructure Commission, the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics.
The recommendations include introducing a specific maximum indoor working temperature law, including the ability to leave the workplace if temperatures exceed 30 degrees Celsius, or 27 degrees if doing strenuous work.
Hospitality and manual workers are most likely to bear the brunt of excessive heat. Employees in education establishments and offices can suffer as well. Workers in better-off households are less likely to work in jobs that are prone to the risk of overheating.
Key Infrastructure At Risk Of Shutdown Due To Overheating
The report puts responsibility on landlords to prevent overheated homes, based on the existing requirements for landlords to prevent cold homes. The authors added that rough sleepers should be offered temporary accommodation for the duration of severe weather.
In addition, the report stresses that the current British government has failed to take action to stop climate inequality. It says: “The Conservative government’s most recent National Adaptation Programme lacks substantive new plans or investment to prepare.”
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The Fabians also raised concerns over not enough being done to climate-proof new infrastructure, warning the electricity system, schools and hospitals, and transport infrastructure could all be at risk of shutdown due to overheating.
