For most people, the summer holidays are almost over, but outside it is suddenly full summer. Tropical, even. If you don’t work in an office, where the air conditioning blows nicely under the suspended ceiling, a tropical grille can therefore be a good idea. Especially if you are also working outside. What are the rules then? We looked into it for you.
Provided: there are no hard agreements that employers must adhere to when temperatures rise. But there are guidelines from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. The (beach) ball, when it comes to heat measures at work, really lies with the employer himself.
Although that does not mean, of course, that you can just work in the sun for a full working day at 32 degrees, without water, shade, breaks or sunburn. “Your employer then runs the risk of getting the labor inspection on their roof,” explains SZW spokesperson Wessel de Heus.
Lots of water, rest and little sun
The advice of the ministry is intended to ensure that no one loses their temper during extreme temperatures. Not outside, but also not inside the office. Because even there you can suffer a lot from the sun. “People don’t think about where work can be dangerous.”
That is why the advice of the ministry differs per workplace, but also per job. “Are you working outside, but is it in a park with a lot of shade? Then that is of course different from when you are tiling in the full sun,” says De Heus. Although the following applies everywhere: enough water, not too much sun and enough rest.
In practice, the advice is sometimes taken with a grain of salt. “We don’t actually wear tropical schedules,” says Jeffrey van Lokven, for example, a gardener from Heesch. “But we do take some more breaks and stay out of the sun as much as possible.”
No bare torso
For the gardener it is also a matter of adapting to his customer and the times that they want to receive the workers. And a bare upper body, as a classic street scene of workers in the heat, certainly does not suit him. “We don’t, but only because I don’t think it’s customer-friendly.”
Van Lokven is not alone in this, by the way. “I don’t think that’s even allowed anymore,” grins meteorologist Alfred Snoek. He can still vividly remember how workers used to walk around ‘bare-chested’. “And more rules have now been added, but with 35 degrees in such overalls it is also much too hot,” he says.
For example, he sees many companies start one or two hours earlier, in order to be ready at the hottest moment. Or where someone is required to be ready with sunscreen.
Record heat for September
And it is never as warm as it is this September week, according to the meteorologist. If this continues, we will have a record series of heat days in September. “If we stay around 29/30 degrees until Monday, then that is really exceptional,” explains Snoek. “An outlier is possible once in a while, but that is normally not every year. And certainly not for a week.”