27th November 2005, 01:51 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by mysteryman
What gets me is that office staff at the unit I work for can go home if it gets too cold (under Health and Safety) yet we have to work no matter how cold it gets.
Well that's not strictly true. There is absolutely nothing to stop you asking for a risk assessment of the potential Health and Safety dangers arising from working in extreme cold weather. I would consider that such an assessment should take account of the length of time that individuals are exposed to the cold, the type of work and the available facilities for getting warm/keeping warm after exposure. The obvious remedies including shorter working hours, longer breaks, availability of warm drinks/food etc, drying rooms for clothes and boots, etc etc.
There is no reason why a constantly changing work environment such as an archaeological site should have any less stringent Health and Safety conditions than a fixed and climate controlled office space.