Schools have a legal duty of care to keep students safe from foreseeable harm such as heat exhaustion and can no longer treat overheating as a rare or unpredictable event.
In the face of higher temperatures and more frequent heatwaves during the summer, the Department of Education (DfE) has acknowledged overheating is a key risk schools must mitigate against to keep pupils and teachers safe.
Last summer, the DfE issued guidance on thermal comfort and design standards and advice on what steps schools can take to stop a whole host of impacts.
There are two main pieces of legislation schools must comply with to manage risk around overheating which include measures schools should follow to protect students and staff against excessive heat.
The Health & Safety at Work Act ensures schools provide thermometers and conduct risk assessments to manage comfort and safety for a safe and effective learning environment.
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 states that it is the school’s responsibility to keep a classroom temperature ‘reasonable’.
During high temperatures, the National Education Union (NEU) recommends taking several classroom readings with thermometers including the official school one.
While there is no specific temperature given as ideal or too hot, last year - the UK’s hottest year - the NEU responded to complaints about overheating by recommending a maximum temperature of 26°C for classrooms.
The HSE’s Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) on the 1992 Workplace Regulations requires employers to take all reasonable steps to achieve a reasonably comfortable temperature which means you cannot use cost as an excuse unless the measures are disproportionately expensive.
Both the Health & Safety at Work Act and Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 are legally binding and can be enforced by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors.
Children need to have access to and be encouraged to drink lots of water because they don’t regulate their temperature as well as adults.
Alongside their teachers, children can also become irritable and lose concentration if a classroom is too hot and can lead to behavioural issues and miss out on valuable learning.
It’s also important to remember that overheating can exacerbate pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma, heart and kidney conditions, epilepsy and anxiety.
In the same way, heat exhaustion can cause a host of symptoms including headache, nausea, dizziness and confusion, loss of appetite, sweating, cramps in the arms, legs, or stomach, a fast but weak pulse or paler than normal or clammy skin.
In extreme cases, heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke, a medical emergency, when the body reaches above 40°C.
For schools who don’t mitigate against the risks of overheating it may be difficult to prove there was safeguarding in place if a child becomes ill from the effects of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
Schools need to have a contingency plan in place to stop overheating and its impact on students and staff when hot weather is forecast.
This may mean opening windows in the early morning and evening to let cooler air in if possible, as long as it doesn’t break any insurance restrictions.
Shading sun-facing windows is recommended by the DfE and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Although internal blinds and curtains can stop the sun shining directly into the room, they can’t stop the solar glare entering through the glass and heating the room.
Schools in hotter climates have been using external shading options like brise soleil and external blinds for many years.
External shading fitted to the outside of the buildings on south and west facing windows is the most effective way to stop the problem of overheating in the first place.
In particular, external blinds lower temperatures inside by up to 40 per cent but still allow the light to come in whilst the special weave of the fabric allows students to see the world outside.
Playground canopies and external walkways can also help reduce indoor temperatures by reflecting heat away before it can get into the building.
They can be controlled remotely and fitted with sensors which lower or raise the blinds when the optimum temperature is reached inside.
If you’d like to find out about how external blinds can help you stop overheating in your school, contact us.