Temperatures at Work – Inverclyde Leisure Survey Results
UNISON Inverclyde recently undertook a Survey of Inverclyde Leisure members regarding temperatures at work.
The survey was completed by 38 people in total and we will continue to keep the survey open for others to add their views too. Please click on the link below to read the survey results.
As many staff work in multiple sites the respondents mentioned 2 or more sites in their answers. Participants included the Greenock Waterfront, Gourock Swimming Pool, Ravenscraig Sports Centre, Lady Octavia Sports Centre and Port Glasgow Swimming Pool. We visited all these sites and found structural problems and poor building design which we believe is leading to high levels of sun light exposure, trapped heat on pool sides and lack of ventilation generally.
Areas of particular concern are:
· Waterfront Reception and Upper Corridor
· Waterfront Cafe Kitchen
· Waterfront Pool
· Lady Octavia Reception Area and Upper Floor
· Ravenscraig Reception
· Port Glasgow Swimming Pool Reception and Poolside
This situation is leading to people becoming sick at work. The result show that 26 out of 38 IL staff surveyed have been made ill by high temperatures. Symptom include; Dehydration (16), Nausea (12), Fatigue (20), Feeling Faint (14), Headaches (22), High Blood Pressure (3), Sickness (5) and other (6).
The survey shows that staff are avoiding taking shifts on sunny days to miss the unbearable temperatures. They also told us that it had an affect on their concentration which is dangerous especially for life guards.
We are moving forward now to try and convince both Inverclyde Leisure and Inverclyde Council to properly address these issues for the long term. From discussion IL are claiming that the structural remedies are too costly and are underplaying the severity of the heat problems in parts of their estate. We believe that Inverclyde Council have a responsibility to maintain the IL estate and as land lords should be financing improvements. We will be lobbying IC and the IL board hard in the coming weeks.
Lastly it would be useful if IL members could come forward and volunteer to help us in this campaign on improving the conditions in IL. If you would like to help or have any other information that you could share in relation to heat or other health and safety matters please email joe.pearce@unison.co.uk or contact him at the Branch Office.
