Keeping staff warm in the energy crisis
Concerns regarding cost. Whilst the cost of energy is undoubtedly a big worry for many businesses, you have a legal duty to maintain a reasonable temperature in the workplace. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 set minimum temperatures of 16o c and 13o c for sedentary and physical workers respectively.
What can you do? Even though you still need to heat your workplace there are some simple things you can do to reduce the amount of energy you will consume, including:
- turn off heating in rooms you’re not using
- turn the heating down by one degree. If successful, go lower!
- adjust automatic thermostats to switch off an hour before closing time so the area is still warmed, but cooling down before the last person leaves
- only turn lights and equipment on when you need them
- do a draught check - draughts coming in and heat escaping out is an instant waste of energy and money.
Tip. Use our energy saving checklist to help reduce your consumption and therefore your bills (see The next step ).
How to involve staff? Communicate your concerns to them. They will understand as everyone is in the same boat. Ask for their co-operation in helping you, such as keeping doors shut, wearing suitable clothing into work, providing them with free or subsidised hot drinks, etc.
What about those working from home? It’s dependent on your policies as to how you deal with this situation. You could encourage staff to come back into the workplace, give them “heating bonuses” to help with their bills and encourage them to heat the person, not the house.
For our energy saving checklist, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 21 issue 02.
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