Green MP Hannah Spencer aims to pass law on maximum workplace temperatures

Hannah Spencer, a Green Party MP, is set to introduce a bill in parliament that would pave the way for a maximum workplace temperature in the UK, as the country grapples with increasingly frequent heatwaves. If passed, the legislation will create an independent body to recommend maximum safe workplace temperatures and set out how those recommendations should be implemented.

Campaigners and unions have criticised the fact the UK has health and safety guidance on minimum workplace temperatures but nothing for maximum temperatures, despite rising summer heat caused by the climate crisis. Unison and the TUC have called for a maximum indoor work temperature of 30°C, or 27°C for strenuous work.

Spencer, who worked as a plumber before being elected as an MP in a byelection in February, has spoken about the “unfair” temperatures tradespeople must work in. She highlighted examples such as bus and train drivers sweltering in cabins hotter than outside, bakers working in temperatures over 40°C, and builders with no respite from the heat. She called it “absurd” that the country lacked maximum temperature guidance and urged the government to look to countries like Spain, where maximum temperatures are imposed based on the type of work and workers can adjust hours during heatwaves.

Spencer’s bill is expected to receive cross-party support, backed by leftwing Labour MPs, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said maximum workplace temperatures cannot be imposed because excessive heat can be caused by workplace activity rather than the weather. There is no legal minimum temperature, but HSE guidance suggests 16°C (13°C for strenuous work).

In May, the Climate Change Committee recommended setting maximum work temperature regulations. The government has announced that the HSE will launch a public consultation on the issue this year. Temperatures have exceeded 34°C nine times this year, breaking previous records, and the scorching conditions would have been impossible without climate change driven by fossil fuels. The heatwave affecting much of England and Wales is forecast to last until at least Wednesday.