Exposure to prolonged high temperatures / humidity / intense sunlight could lead to heat stroke or heat exhaustion risks and serious health effects.
High temperatures and strong sunlight can be physically harmful, with risks including heat stroke, heat exhaustion, skin burns, cramps, heat rash and fainting.
At high temperatures of 25oC individuals can be prone to becoming tired with a loss of concentration leading to an increase in the risk of accidents from slips and trips, manual handling, injury from using hand tools and risks from poor decision-making.
Outdoor work activities where individuals could be exposed high temperatures should be risk assessed and controls such as moving the work to cooler periods of the day, taking additional breaks, providing lighter clothing, making available drinking water, and educating workers to recognise the symptoms of heat stress.
There is no maximum temperature specified in regulation for workplaces, so heat hazards to employees and others should be assessed and managed in common with other workplace health and safety hazards. Guidance is available on the Health and Safety Executive website on hot and cold temperatures in the workplace.
Weather forecast information including severe weather warnings such as heat waves can be found on the UK Met' Office website.
There is also a homepage that lists the range of Health and Safety risks identified as relevant to the University's activities and facilities, together with information on the University's policies and arrangements on how these risks are to be managed and controlled.
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