Work

[lnr]

9:45 arrive in office. Temperature 12° C. Ask James if I should go home, he says it's up to me. Quick run through mail before heading up to common room to have a meeting with Paul, since it's warmer up there. By the time I get back from coffee and faffing it's near 11:30 and the room has warmed up to 13°. This is still below what health and safety say is appropriate for office work, so I came home to work here instead, even if I feel like it makes me a poor member of the dept team for being the only one to do so. But dammit the law says it's my responsibility too, and I damned well wasn't dressed for it, I was dressed for cycling in 10° or so, which doesn't require as many layers since the exercise keeps you warm. Anyway I've finally got through the first run of my inbox, only 650 or so spams to filter now, as well as the ones in various other places. And I'm doing it in a sensible temperature.

Appointments at OH are on Weds this week and Tues next. Have 4:40 appointment with my doctor booked for today. Am absolutely shattered, but feeling a hell of a lot less stressed than I was first thing this morning.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

No, you're just the only one with any sense! :-) James looked absolutely frozen when we saw him in the corridor at one point. Really, we should all have gone home. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm just too lazy. But you can bet I won't be staying late...

I'm glad you're feeling less stressed, anyway.

[juliet]

You were *definitely* in the right to go home, & if I were shop steward in your office I'd have been harassing management to send *everyone* home forthwith!

[lnr]

Thing is it's not that cold in all the building, though certainly in our wing, and I've no idea who would have a similar role anyway.

I suddenly find myself wanting a webcam pointing at the thermometer so I can see when it's sensible to come back :-)

The only trouble with me being the only one to leave is that of course I'm the one who's considered not to be doing enough work anyway. Not that I'm not working from here.

[juliet]

Doesn't matter (unless, I suppose, they offered to move you elsewhere in the building) - it's the temp of your workplace that's important.

As you're working for the university, I'd be surprised if the workplace wasn't unionised. Certainly you will have a Health & Safety rep, as that's a legal requirement, & their name should be displayed somewhere prominent, as well. Consult them if you do run into any hassle about this.

[lnr]

I'm sure I could find them if I looked. I did tell various colleagues to go home because they were breaking health and safety law by working in that temperature. John's response was "who says I'm working", which I guess there's not much answer to that :-)

[meirion.livejournal.com]

the aut is currently not recognised by the uni, although the new president and committee are much more proactive than the previous lot so that may all change in the nearish future. certainly the aut is intending to do some promotion of itself in the engineering department this term.

health and safety is joe gordon isn't it, lnr? don't know if he'd be any use ...

don't know what temperature it was here last friday but del2 and i almost froze to death and left by lunchtime ...

-m-

[lnr]

I ought to join the aut actually. Not least because my mum keeps nagging me :-)

[meirion.livejournal.com]

i can get you a form if you want ... :-)

-m-

[lnr]

S'OK, I've got them to mail me one :-)

[catyak]

One of the most useful things I ever learned in a French lesson (aged about 13) was when I took in a thermometer one day. The lessons were in a prefab classroom with useless heaters. I pointed out to the teacher that the temperature wasn't much above freezing and wasn't there some law about minimum temperatures (having discussed it with some friends who were impressed that I actually dared raise the issue). The teacher looked at the thermometer, disappeared for a few minutes and then moved the class to a warmer classroom in the main school. At break time we were playing in the area of the prefab classrooms and we noticed the French teacher and the headmaster come down and go into the prefab. Within a couple of days extra heaters had appeared in all the prefabs.

The lesson was that one should never be afraid to complain when rules are being broken for no good reason. If one is right then ultimately authority will back down (true in the UK at the moment, at least).

It was 9C in the lab this morning when I switched on the soldering iron (at least that's the first temperature it claimed as it started warming up).

[ptc24.livejournal.com]

I remember when it was hot over the summer, and someone in the lab stuck up a notice about the legal temperature range for keeping primates in. I was quite amused...

...of course, we have a pretty good range of thermophiles and cryophiles in the lab.