The government should establish maximum temperature regulations for workplaces, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has recommended.
In its latest report on how the UK can adapt to climate change, the CCC says the country should prepare for extreme weather if global temperatures rise by 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. This would result in temperatures seen in record hot summers such as 2018 and 2022 becoming much more common.
Temperatures exceeding 40ºC could recur every two to three years if warming rises to 4°C, says the report, A well-adapted UK.
The CCC recommends maximum working temperature regulations to address the increasing risks that high temperatures pose to workers’ safety. Employers should also be given incentives to deploy necessary cooling, it says.
‘Critical’ settings, such as hospitals and care homes, in many parts of the country will also need cooling. Active cooling will be required, alongside low-cost passive measures.
At least one cool room per home will be needed in the most vulnerable urban households to avoid ‘significant’ increases in heat-related mortality, the report adds.
It estimates that the committee’s proposed adaptation measures would require public and private investment of around £11bn per year.
