Friend working in shop - heating broken and it was freezing

zaffi

Intoodeep wrote: »

I'm so glad I was sitting down on a chair that I had done a full risk assessment on when I read this post, if I had been in a standing position I may well have sustained an injury in the fall resulting from my almost uncontrollable laughing :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I had the same reaction, it's absolute nonsense

Also 14°C is 57F not 52F so whilst claiming to be an expert on hypothermia, they don't even know how to calculate temperature:rotfl:

14°C is the average monthly temperature in Scotland in September and I'm almost always knocking about in shorts!!

crazycatlady1984

3 days being cold at work as the heating is broken? I would suggest that your friend wears a vest and longjohns under her uniform and just gets on with her job - worse things happen at sea!

Cate1976

The rule to follow working in cold conditions is keep the extremities warm and rest of you will stay warm. The company giving hats & fingerless gloves would have helped with this. Feet is easy, one pair of ordinary socks with a pair of walking/ski socks over the top. Also 3/4 thin layers is warmer than 2/3 thick layers due to warm air being trapped between layers.

As for minimum working temperature I don't think there is one but if temperature is below normal room temperature then company should provide suitable clothing. I think the shop in this case went some way to fulfilling that by providing hats & gloves. IMO the scarf in uniform colours under fleece should have been allowed. I can't remember off hand the temperature at which a fit healthy person becomes at risk of developing hypothermia.

I've worked in cold places as well, first one was age 17/18 packing pork products. I was provided with sleeveless body warmer, overall & gloves. I always wore ordinary pair of socks with ski socks over top and under bodywarmer, long sleeved polo top with collar and a sweatshirt. Feet got cold occasionally, hands got cold when we were packing chops which could come into packing area with ice on them. Best/worst was day of my 18th Birthday party nasty supervisor had made me go in until the morning break, just before which, we were given chops to pack, when I got out to the car 10 minutes after finishing packing the things, my hands were still bright red from cold, Dad said Mum would have a fit if she saw them so drove the 3 miles one hand on steering wheel and other over my hands with heating turned up.

The other time I've been in the cold was when I was working in a residential home for adults with mental health problems. I got a phone call to tell me the heating in the home had broken down and take something warm for bedding, no problem I took my 3/4 season sleeping bag & wore tracksuit. I was nice & warm.

The biggest problem in OP's situation would have been draught when doors open.

ValHaller

Cate1976 wrote: »

The rule to follow working in cold conditions is keep the extremities warm and rest of you will stay warm. The company giving hats & fingerless gloves would have helped with this. Feet is easy, one pair of ordinary socks with a pair of walking/ski socks over the top. Also 3/4 thin layers is warmer than 2/3 thick layers due to warm air being trapped between layers.

As for minimum working temperature I don't think there is one but if temperature is below normal room temperature then company should provide suitable clothing. I think the shop in this case went some way to fulfilling that by providing hats & gloves. IMO the scarf in uniform colours under fleece should have been allowed. I can't remember off hand the temperature at which a fit healthy person becomes at risk of developing hypothermia.

I've worked in cold places as well, first one was age 17/18 packing pork products. I was provided with sleeveless body warmer, overall & gloves. I always wore ordinary pair of socks with ski socks over top and under bodywarmer, long sleeved polo top with collar and a sweatshirt. Feet got cold occasionally, hands got cold when we were packing chops which could come into packing area with ice on them. Best/worst was day of my 18th Birthday party nasty supervisor had made me go in until the morning break, just before which, we were given chops to pack, when I got out to the car 10 minutes after finishing packing the things, my hands were still bright red from cold, Dad said Mum would have a fit if she saw them so drove the 3 miles one hand on steering wheel and other over my hands with heating turned up.

The other time I've been in the cold was when I was working in a residential home for adults with mental health problems. I got a phone call to tell me the heating in the home had broken down and take something warm for bedding, no problem I took my 3/4 season sleeping bag & wore tracksuit. I was nice & warm.

The biggest problem in OP's situation would have been draught when doors open.

The burning question: Are you for or against scarves?

snowcat75

ValHaller wrote: »

I don't think you are a real welder, because if I were a welder and an idiot manager told me not to wear whatever was keeping me warm for the 2 hour turn around job in freezing conditions, that manager would probably find himself welded to the job in his underpants with his warm clothing just out of reach for a few hours.

Simple fact is, You follow site rules over wise your off site with a size 11, On a blue chip site its common to have to pass security, and be scrutinized by the foreman of the section before commencing work, This is all of course before an induction, making a method statement, and filling in any hot works permits. In self employment Im afraid its get on with it, or were find someone who will.

dickydonkin wrote: »

Probably more irritating for the HSE department is the litigious society we now live in and the crazy requirements from insurance companies - and stupid posters on here who probably take too much notice of the idiotic articles in the Daily Mail and their clown journalist Littlejohn.

Add to that the H&S directives we have to adhere to from the EU that our own legislation covers quite effectively, then I would suggest you cut some slack for the safety professionals whose sole purpose is to ensure you can go to work and return home safely to your family at the end of the day.

We don't make the rules - we just interpret them and apply them to the particular activities in a given workplace.

I quite agree with all of that, One day general public GB which actually realize just how much cash it is costing to implement these rules, and its not just HSE to contend with, ecologists, Archaeologists, you name it there behind you, Iv know large projects to be shut down for days because of nesting birds, costing anything up-to half a million quid a day. A friend of mine was working on the Railway, Had a possession of the line implemented for 4 hrs and 30 workers on site (you don't even want to know the paperwork and cost in that) was stopped by an ecologist because 2 snails were mating!!!!....

And who are the ones who are proudly sporting there RSPB stickers, and writing letters to the County Council, Planing departments, HSE, Environmental Health, but the bloody chattering Mail readers, who in the next breath lap up the Mails moaning about another project that's spiraling massively out of budget.