91°F (32.7°C) in the factory I work at.
The law states “all factories must maintain a reasonable temperature and humidity.”
Nowhere is reasonable ever defined. I am mildly infuriated. And very hot lol
Edit: 94° (34.4C) now and this post has made it close to the top of “Hot”… The gods are having a laugh lol
You’re not alone! I worked 12 hours in 37°C (99°F), 47% humidity yesterday. However, we get essentially unlimited breaks in an air conditioned break room, have cooling vests filled with ice packs we can wear on the floor, and are supplied with sports drinks and feeezies. Your work can’t really make the world less hot, but they can work with you to avoid development of heat related illnesses!
The cooling vests are something I should bring up in my next health and safety meeting! I doubt they’ll buy them, but at least we’ll have it on record that it was brought up lol
We used to have a purchasing agent that would buy water and stuff when it got really hot, but now we have one that argues about buying stuff we need to actually do our job let alone feel comfortable doing it lol
What’s a few heat strokes of disposable employees when owners can get richer?
He literally threatened to move the shop because the town wouldn’t let him build a helipad for himself lol
Rich people problems
A few hundred bucks of cooling stuff vs how many tens or hundred thousands if everyone keels over?
These are the vests we have: TechNiche CoolPax. They’re okay. I find the ice packs melt quickly and freeze slowly but they’re good for temporary relief. My company initially bought these to be worn under hot PPE like hazmat suits, but even just having a bunch of ice packs in a freezer you can take out on the floor to hold onto could work.
Just did a stint at Lowe’s and we had all the cold, bottled water we could drink. The cost is a no-brainer vs. even one heat-related issue. Use the words “worker’s comp insurance” at that meeting!
My mom has a similar situation at Home Depot, she actually said they finally adjusted the temperature when the customers complained. Naturally they couldn’t care less about the employees, but at least they did provide water.
LOL! Thought about Home Depot, but the local store is clearly in worse shape and so are the employees.
And here’s the thing, they don’t have to care about employees. Worker’s comp insurance is a big fucking deal, I know, worked for payroll place. One ding sets them back far more than 1,000 cases of water.
Only takes one or two employees to pretend to have heat stroke/exhaustion and get a work sponsored trip to the hospital to force a change in the working environment.
Really would be safer for everyone to have someone pretend rather than wait until someone actually has one.
literally in the danger zone unless it’s super dry where you are.
Thanks for the image, I’m definitely saving that for future use!
Apparently we’re in “extreme caution,” even though it feels humid the forecast says we’re around 50% humidity
It’s literally in the extreme caution zone.
Edited to add, I’m not good at reading charts, explanation below.
Highway to the extreme caution zone just doesn’t have that ring to it.
I assumed 60% RH since that’s what it is on average in the heat dome currently.
Nowhere on your chart, at any humidity, are the temperatures mentioned in OP in the danger zone. They are in the extreme caution zone.
I believe the temperatures within the chart are “feels like” temperatures rather than absolute temperatures. The X axis shows absolute values (what would likely show on the thermostat).
At OPs original temperature (91°F) the danger zone would be around 60-70% and higher. At OPs last updated temperature (94°F), the danger zone would be 55% or higher.
Well aren’t I dumb! Cheers.
I guess dry heat is a thing. I can do >110 fine, I don’t like it, but I don’t feel in danger. But its 10% or less humidity. Its usually better to wear more clothes just to keep the direct sun off you. Somehow wearing a hoodie in the desert in summer is comfortable. Its also nice not getting sweaty because it immediately evaporates.
I spent a summer in south India a few years ago during monsoon season. I was fucking miserable in my jeans and shirts until I switched over to wearing loose, flowing clothes made of bleached kahdi (loose homespun cotton) like the locals. It keeps the sun off you and even when it gets soaked it doesn’t cling to your skin, and then whenever the rain stops it dries completely very quickly. Other westerners I met made fun of me for pretending to go native, but they had no clue how effective it was.
Alright, I’m interested. What should i search for?
Uh, airline tickets to India?
Caution at below 27 °C (80 F)? Always? Why is there no “OK” zone?
I believe it’s because this table is for apparent temperature while exerting yourself.
Default password on that model is 1234 /salute
As someone living in the equator where sun is fucking angry at us everyday, 32°c indoor is toasty, and 34°c indoor is torture. You should report to the authority and let them know.
Unless you work near furnace of course.
Wait until you see 41°C.
(Atleast i was home when it was 40°C. Otherwise i’d be literally cooked.)
I was in Venice at 41C with 90 percent humidity. It was like trying to breathe underwater.
I hope that also isn’t 80% humid, that is literally spa.
This is America, what authorities give a damn about how hot you are? If there was one, I’m sure Musk’n’Trump got rid of them.
OSHA probably cares.
The company should care, because if the workers are dropping off because of heat stroke, they’re not creating value for the shareholders.
Luckily Trump is doing away with those pesky OSHA people
Musk’s DOGE is shuttering OSHA’s office in ‘Cancer Alley’—despite how dangerous it is - Fast Company https://share.google/YIHqcaHv9m1FaoTXj
But, but, they sometimes hand out freeze pops in hot weather! How much more can you want?
Unless i missed it, OP didn’t mention being in America though, and judging from the instance they might be from Netherlands.whoops, really missed it. Also like the other person said, OSHA.
Authorities: Quit complaining and get back to work, peasant!
“For our profits, it is reasonable not to waste money on AC.” – Your boss
Luckily my ambulance has AC. Here’s our top temp from yesterday:
So, uh… We have the same thermostat at my job. It’s not great. You can’t just tell it what temperature you want the room to be, you actually have to tell it if you want it to heat or cool to that temperature.
Yours is set set to 65, but if you look to the left of the current temp, it says “heat.” Someone likely forgot to change that when the weather warmed up. IIRC, one of the three unlabeled middle buttons will fix that.
Lol I appreciate the help, but there is literally no AC unit. All we have is oil heat for the winter so the pipes don’t freeze
Pipes over people!
It’s like that here in Germany too. They have a legal lower temperature limit, but otherwise it’s just “if it’s hot you have to give your employees water.”
It will be 40C next week. No AC in my office.
I definitely feel for you guys in Europe, a lot of tough arguments to be had with employers coming up… If I understand correctly AC isn’t that common because it historically hasn’t been as necessary as it has been in the US. The future unfortunately is looking to make it necessary pretty much everywhere :(
I live in the hottest part of Germany. In the north, AC honestly isn’t that necessary and we managed really well by just keeping the blinds closed, but down here it’s impossible.
I also work in a factory but our temperature is largely unregulated with the exception of offices, break areas and certain departments where the stock needs to be kept away from too much humidity (so, even in those departments it’s humidity control not air conditioning). In the winter it’s cold enough that we’ve had pipes freeze in the center of the building and in the summer it’s normal to see 100 degrees at 3am. It’s too bad I don’t live in one of those states where it’s “regulated” because I think anyone would say those temperatures are unreasonable.
For me the main thing would be airflow there, and the type of work. I’ve done full days in 35+ machining but windows and doors were open so there was a breeze which made it bearable (not pleasant days mind you)
We have fans, but the air is fairly still outside and pretty humid. “Thankfully” today is less humid than it usually gets, but it’s still thick. I’m in manufacturing as well so there’s all the typical machines running adding to the heat that I’m sure you’re familiar with lol
The OSHA recommendation is 68-76F, which isn’t a direct link to ‘reasonable’ but provides a suitable context to frame workplace conditions.
If people’s body temperatures can be measured exceeding 100F a link to heat stress and increasing risk of injury in the workplace can also be drawn as it’s generally the equivalent of working with a fever.
I brought that up once during a health and safety meeting, but the issue is the state law being so vague we can’t really force a change and since this isn’t a corporation they seem less inclined to care about legal issues. We’re just a small “mom and pop” factory, like the health and safety meeting I have is myself and the QA inspection guy lol From how he’s described his interactions with “the office” in relation to things mentioned in the meetings they seem to just want us to write down the minutes of the meetings as a formality for OSHA if they ever did come to inspect.
I’ll mention it again so it is on record multiple times though.
Can you break the office ac? Or repeatedly set it to the warehouse temp every time you walk by it.
Edit: because it’s considered reasonable (elsewhere in the comments), call it a cost savings measure.
I worked in plastic extrusion for nearly a decade.
The front of the line would be about 85, but the back of the kine, where the work was, hit 110°F to 120F° in the summers.
Absolute hell
Why is it on heat mode? They just dont wanna run AC at all?
There is no ac at all lol
Edit: I should rephrase that, the human beings in the office have ac, but the system this thermostat is hooked up to for us animals does not have an AC unit. I’m like 90% sure we only have heat so water pipes don’t freeze.
I was riding on a bus today where the temperature was 38c(101f). I only sat on it for like 40 minutes and i felt like fucking soup after, imagine having to be the bus driver. High temps like this are extremely dangerous actually.
Complain that it isn’t reasonable.
We have lol for “them” unreasonable is when the thermostat reads 100° which it just so happens to never hit… We get 98° pretty regularly in the summers, but I’ve only ever seen 99° as the highest not 100…
As a UXD who was a firmware dev for products (not thermostats, but similar things), in looking at this display, I’d bet money it’s not capable of showing numbers past 99. The layout doesn’t seem to allow space for more than a 2 digit temp reading.
The ‘heat’ and ‘fan’ indicators on either side of the temp reading are in a fixed location, so the temp display would max at 99. It’s highly plausible the real temperature exceeds that as you say.
Are you in the US? This situation feels like something OSHA would frown upon.
It is “hilarious” that you would mention that because I joked with the guys at work that I bet they bought a thermostat that isn’t capable of reading 100° lol
I’m in the US, and OSHA has only ever shown up once on a perfect 75° day and we apparently had notice ahead that they were coming.
There is definitely no space for a 2-segment to the right of “heat”. You can check by looking at it from a flat angle, you should be able to see all possible legends reflecting light off the LCD
I doubt they did that intentionally – i think many indoor thermostats don’t allow space past 99 (I just checked mine, and it doesn’t either), because that’s an unreasonable temperature for indoor spaces, and would be such an edge case that display space is more important from a design perspective.
The point is that’s an unreasonable temperature. Sorry they’re treating you like this. Makes me angry for you.
Also noticed it’s a Honeywell Home version. Most likely not “industrial” grade and would have no reason to show beyond 99.
Sorry I’m not saying to complain so they change it. I’m saying complain and now you have a written record for osha that the temperature is unreasonable. You can now force their hand.
Oh, yeah I’m on record for that for sure. I’m part of the health and safety team so every month each summer I bring up the heat lol
Have you contacted the government safety board?
Can you also say that what they are telling you is unreasonable? They should be working in the same building if they think it’s ok.
I always wonder about these situations where the breakdown is. Somewhere someone’s boss is just ignoring the needs of those below them and they think they are helping the company. You need to find where that’s happening
It’s a small enough company that decisions that involve any expensive expansions go to the owner. He’s already denied a request to set up a few fans near the ceiling to get airflow from one side of the building out to the other so anything like an actual a/c are out of the question.
The general response is “we told you it gets bad in the summer, if you don’t like it there are plenty of doors to walk out of.”
I have a thermostat that looks just like that at home. It doesn’t go to 100°, like the other commenter said.
