According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employermust ensure to his subordinates not only safety, but also such conditions under which the norms of labor protection are observed. In particular, the temperature standards in the workplace, adopted at the state level. Articles of the Labor Code 209 and 212 regulate the requirements for the event, creating appropriate sanitary and sanitary and hygienic conditions.
What does the law say?
It is necessary to emphasize sanitary standards,which relate to the humidity and temperature of industrial and office premises. All the necessary numbers are contained in SanPiN 2.2.4.548962. This is the main document according to which normal working conditions should be ensured, in particular - the humidity conditions, temperature standards in the room and other important factors.
An increased degree of ambient air canconsidered one of the most powerful factors that inhibit the performance. These sanitary standards determined that the temperature in the room during the summer period should not be above 25 ° C. Relative humidity is not allowed to fall below 40%. It is precisely with such values that the necessary thermal comfort can be ensured during the whole working day or shift.
Compliance with these conditions does not lead to deviations.in well-being of workers and creates the necessary conditions for normal work. Ensuring an optimal microclimate in the production premises necessarily requires from the employer the equipment of the workshop or office heating, as well as ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Do not break the law!
Отсутствие или неисправность какой-либо из these systems leads to unacceptable excess temperature and creates a threat to the health of workers. This in itself is a violation of the law.
При этом работники подразделяются на категории.For example, office workers are referred to sanitary standards as category A. If the temperature in the workplace rises above certain figures, they are entitled to a reduction in working time for the periods described below.
The required microclimate indicators are given inSection Seven SanPiN. Inadequate workplace temperatures can cause a legal shortening of the working day. An employer is required from the organization of a commission whose task is to measure it indoors.
And then what?
The results of such a survey are madeprotocol. It presents the obtained data and compares it with the normative ones. The shortening of the working day occurs on the basis of an order in accordance with the requirements given in SanPiN. The document should contain a reference to the protocol with the data of temperature measurements.
This is done to protect employees from possibledamage to health due to cooling or overheating. It should be borne in mind that from a legal point of view, one should distinguish between the concepts of time spent at one’s workplace and the duration of a shift or working day.
As stated SanPiN, the temperature onthe workplace should be one in which the finding of people in the production environment is brought into compliance with hygienic requirements. At the same time, they rely on article 212 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
What can be done
As a way to solve this problem shouldconsider additional breaks, earlier departure of employees from their homes, their transfer to other workplaces, and equipment for special recreation facilities.
In case of failure of the employer to perform dataclaims he can be charged simultaneously with two offenses. It is, firstly, about the violation of sanitary rules (temperature standards in the workplace do not meet the standard indicators). Secondly, labor legislation is directly ignored, since the work of people takes place in inappropriate conditions.
With the inaction of the employer in this situation andthe refusal to provide employees with another job, the time spent in adverse conditions is equal in duration to the daily work day (shift). That is, it is possible to talk about overtime for employees at the initiative of the employer, with all the attendant legal and financial consequences.
How to take care of yourself
What can ordinary employees do tonormalization of the situation in the field of ensuring their own rights to safe and comfortable working conditions? In the case when the temperature standards at the workplace are not complied with, they are recommended to file complaints simultaneously with the Rospotrebnadzor and the labor inspectorate. The Code on Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation in such cases provides for a fine in respect of legal entities, the amount of which is of the same order as the costs required for equipping workplaces with fans and air conditioners.
As you know, our people are used to working in anyconditions. Sometimes it affects the extent to which the norms of temperature conditions in the workplace can be violated. People have to work, crawling their teeth from the cold or literally choking because of the unbearable heat. This also applies to employees of the mental front, who spend days on end in a "civilized" office. The labor process in such unsuitable conditions has become so familiar that people no longer think about the violation of their legal rights.
Temperature standards in the workplace
Of course, both jobs and activitiesmay vary greatly. A bank employee is in some conditions, a loader or crane driver is completely different. On this account, developed standards for each individual profession.
Any type of work refers to one of the availablecategories for which the necessary microclimatic conditions and the permissible temperature range are prescribed. Unfortunately, to consider all of them in one article is unreal. Therefore, we dwell on the working conditions of office workers.
What should we know?
Perhaps for someone this information will soundfirst. Did you know that if you are forced to work at a temperature that does not meet the established standards, then you have every right to reduce your working time?
Probably many, having read these lines, onlywill grin. Anyone in our country knows what it is like to seek law and justice, including in the workplace. But nevertheless, possession of this information will, in the right cases, make it possible to “download rights”, seeking the opportunity to take time off home early or even put the employer in charge of overtime, if you force him to comply with the temperature standards at the workplace in the office.
In any organization there is always an active"backbone" of workers who will seek justice by writing complaints and all pressure on the leadership. We hope this information will help them in this matter.
Armed with a thermometer
So, we measure the temperature at our workplace.It should not be more than 23-25 ° C. It's about work in the summer. If it is winter outside, these numbers range from 22 to 24 °. In this case, the readings of the thermometer must be linked to the humidity of the air, the permissible values of which are from 40 to 60%.
Of course, the temperature may deviate fromrequired by some allowable value, which is 1 or 2 degrees, but no more. Throughout the working day, the temperature change should not be more than 4 degrees.
If these conditions are met, you mustwork in the office full 8 hours. If the temperature of the day reached 29 ° C (that is, it exceeded the maximum permissible by 4 ° C), it would be legitimate to have your request to allow you to leave work earlier than an hour.
With a 30-degree heat, you have the right to work no more than 6 hours. If the thermometer exceeds 32.5 ° C, theoretically you have the right to work no more than an hour.
If it's cold outside
The situation is similar with work in coldwinter days. If the thermometer is only 19 degrees Celsius, the length of the working day is 7 hours, and at 18 degrees - 6. At the same time, an accurate temperature measurement is made at a height of about a meter from the floor.
Вопрос - принесут ли практическую пользу такие rigorous measurements, coupled with the requirements of the employer for accurate compliance with the rules and regulations? The fact is that the latter is likely to be more profitable to spend once on installing an air conditioner or heater instead of regularly paying fines for violation with concomitant hassle.
Therefore, if you value your own health, do notbe afraid of bosses. Your goal is to ensure that temperature standards in the workplace are respected. If you possess the information contained in the legislative documents that are meant to protect the ordinary worker, and show due perseverance, it is quite possible to achieve justice.
