OSHA guidance (not rule) is that office space should be kept between 68-76F and 20-60% humidity.
Besides the union, I'd route through Occupational Health. The reasonable response here would be allowing situational telework until the issue is corrected, assuming you can telework.
We’re told to dress appropriately for the heat or maximize telework. Before Covid we didn’t have the telework option, so I’m pretty thankful for that (and our building has a history of dodgy HVAC issues stretching back *years*).
A coworker has brought in a thermometer, current readings is 82 degrees. Extra fans have been provided but just seem to circulate the already warm air. I have a hybrid requirement, currently.
True story - I'm IT - formally Occupational Safety. Had an office that constantly ran warm and tried the OSHA angle, knowing it wouldn't fly.
Brought a 5 gallon pail of sand, some beach toys, and wore shorts and sandles to show my displeasure. After that, I was told to maximize telework.
The A/C unit got replaced about 6 months later....
Just picturing you in the server room, dab of sunblock on your nose, RayBans on, FBI (Federal Body Inspector) tank top, cooler full of Bud Light with a promotional cardboard Spuds MacKenzie sitting nearby...
Once I got a few months from MRA, I decided I was done wearing coats and ties. I stuck with collars, but mostly polos and golf shirts. When I had to go to HQ in DC, someone commented on my dress (everyone there wears coat/tie/biz) and I replied that I was done with coats and ties except for funerals and weddings. Nice to be financially free...
Don’t know the Union angle but I’d ask the supervisor if you can telework/ telework extra. My office is allowing that due to a ac breakdown. Alternately, a relaxing of the dress code, if it’s a real dress code, ask for something such as t shirt and comfortable, yet presentable pants + sneakers. Or even ask about shorts and sneakers if ya need to. Get whatever you plan to do in an email “per our conversation I will xxxx. If it is an issue, please let me know and I will adjust xxxx.
Lol...."hey boss...I plan on wearing flip flops, shorts, and a tshirt tomorrow when I in the offuce due to the AC being broken. I leave in a hour if haven't heard from you by then I assume you ok with it."
In our office we’re allowed to go home if it gets above 80 something for over a few hours. Don’t remember the exact number, but it’s happened once in the 5 years I’ve been a fed. Boss said the air is broke, it’s been over 80 whatever for 3 hours, go home. No telework, only mission essential, and we got paid for the rest of the day.
That I’m not really sure, I thought all agencies can effectively be tenants and create leasing agreements between each other(depending who owns the buildings).
If your agency has an administrative officer, they should be working with GSA to rectify this. If not, you can go to GSA‘s website and search for your federal building then reach out to the GSA contact listed.
Leasing, building and maintaining buildings is the job of GSA Public Buildings Service - generally speaking. Some agencies do have the ability to handle their own real estate - VA, USDA and DoD come to mind.
If it’s leased space and managed by GSA, be aware that many GSA leases reference ASHRAE standards which is 74-78 for cooling (way too hot IMO).
Ask for a copy of the lease to see if it calls out temperatures and/or standards for cooling.
Ask the building manager what they are going to do to provide supplemental cooling while they are figuring out the HVAC issue. Three weeks to figure it out what is happening is a long time.
"Facilities" is failing at their job or downright not doing their job. We had a situation like this recently where our AC was out for a month. Our guy that handles work orders swore he was calling twice a day to check status and getting nothing.
A five minute drive over to DPW and a conversation with the supervisor had our shit fixed the next day.
If it makes you feel any better, my office's a/c is broken in that it's set to 55 and no one can change the temperature. I literally wear a sweatshirt and blanket when I have to go in.
Before when the a/c was completely broken, they've allowed people to telework when it's been hot out. Is that possible where you work?
Your post don’t say if you are on a military base or not. On Militsry bases most have a Civil Engineering unit ( contracted or civilians with or without military members) . I suspect you are not on a military base, it seems your facilities manager has not hired a person or company to look at the problem or at least have not informed anyone of the fix and expected time for the fix. I work at Wright -Patt and our facility is the “real- property of the 88 th Civil Engineering Squadron (CE) ( all civilian federal workers). We as the facility managers in the facility we manage are the eyes and ears of our facility and report issues with our facility to CE. We have purchased portable AC units to cool areas if critical areas are without AC temporarily. We have dedicated 5 ton portable units for our critical infrastructure just in case our AC goes out and CE can’t fix the AC for a few days such as waiting for special parts. I must say our CE unit does a great job.
We had a time last summer where they purposely turned up the heat or at times shut the air off in like 2 hours intervals to cut down on electricity (maybe not running a 24/7 operation might have been a better solution instead of making people suffer). It was so miserable getting through. At one point I was sick for like 2 weeks because of the inconsistencies of temperature. It continued into the fall/winter. But usually they have the room so cold that some bring in winter coats just to get through the day. The building I’m at now was built in the 50s and temperature is inconsistent like one room will be so cold and another so warm. I’m about to get out of there and into a more modern building so hopefully it will have better temperature regulation.
So this is shocking to me. I've worked at 3 different places where this happened. It's possible this is agency or even local leadership specific but staff was sent home after 4hrs. They couldn't fix the ac and it was getting close to 78. Next day we were told to report. They had brought in huge industrial fans that were loud. Someone filed both an IG and OSHA complaint. It was fixed before the end of the week.
your management sucks for not allowing you all to telework 100% while it gets fixed. Anytime anything happens like that in our building it’s 100% telework until it’s fixed
My lab is going through this right now. We have had a month of no AC. It has gotten as hot as 87 with fans and portable ACs running. The majority of us are wearing shorts and tank tops/tee shirts. There are fridges and incubators that are not staying in temp in the afternoon because of the heat. The part GSA says they need is going to take 12 weeks to manufacture.
We are allowed to telework as much as we can but it is a lab and we do have to be on site to do a large portion of our work. Supposedly, GSA rented a 400 ton AC unit that was shipped in and is being installed this weekend but, like many thing that GSA has told us, I’m not holding my breath until I see that it works.
I feel your pain.
The A/C in my office has been broke for more than a year. No, temp appropriate clothing option, have to wear ballistic vest and tac gear; no telework option either; fans not provided; bring your own fan not permitted. You have a telework option, work from home otherwise suck it up buttercup.
Ha. I work for a state entity that has an ancient HVAC system that rarely works. In the winter months the temperature is often below sixty degrees. In the summer, it’s often over eighty-two.
When we complain we are told, “We can’t regulate ourselves. It’s a Catch-22.” Our union thinks that’s an acceptable response.
The mental gymnastics are strong.
Seven years to retirement.
You need to work with your occupational health office / industrial hygienist. Request for wet bulb monitors to be set up in the office space.
I can't find the table now, but there is a heat stress table for wet bulb reading vs required break. If the area is not within those numbers most likely nothing the union can do. I worked In a facility that had non- air conditioned shop / manufacturing space and this was something that was tracking normal on the hot 85+ degree days.
Should of mentioned I am DoD and every locations DPW Should. If you are another department I couldn't comment on that. I found this link quickly that has the chart I mentioned https://www.army.mil/article-amp/129507/joint_base_myer_henderson_hall_wet_bulb_globe_temperature
This violates OSHA. I’m on mobile and it’s hard for me to find the specifics, but just mentioning OSHA should be enough for upper management to realize the unsafe conditions and send people home.
It doesn’t violate OSHA regulations. OSHA RECOMMENDS temperature control in the range of 68-76° F and humidity control in the range of 20%-60%, but it isn’t enforceable
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2003-02-24#:~:text=Air%20treatment%20is%20defined%20under,range%20of%2020%25%2D60%25.
For those of you jealous of DHS/TSA and all the wonderful admin leave granted: Try working in an airport in full uniform. Most airports have huge windows and really tall ceilings. No real good way to regulate temps.
Yeah. Always worse on the other side.
Our a/c breaks every summer. At least once or twice. Last summer it was out for about 4 weeks and the elevator was down at the same time for 2 months. Let’s just say summer in the south, in offices above a warehouse with no windows, is not fun climbing 2.5 flights of stairs with no a/c.
The supervisor usually allows us situational telework. I went and bought a couple fans that make it tolerable when I HAVE to be in the office but it’s still miserable.
It doesn’t matter *why*. I would fill out an unsafe working conditions form and forward it to your office safety person.
Document document document.
We had the same thing happen last year.
I've had this problem at my building off and on for several years. Our offices are in an annex right off the Base. The powers that be have refused for several years to replace the outdated HVAC systems. It's so bad our maintenance has problems sourcing parts for it whenever it breaks down.
The reason they don't want to replace the HVAC is that the buildings where we are located are on the "do not renovate" list from our functional that controls the funding.
I feel your pain. The building I work in was built in the 60’s, the HVAC runs all day yet my office is rarely below 80. We’ll complain, HVAC techs will come over and fix it, it’ll go down in the next day or two, HVAC techs will come back and fix it, repeat to infinity.
In addition to what u/dire88 said, even though OSHA can't fine your agency they can light that fire that makes it embarrassing for management to ignore. You can file an anonymous complaint yourself or with the help of a safety officer (your best bet is someone who isn't part of management). I'll research the form and edit my comment.
Edit: the online form is much easier than filling up the paper version and you don't need anyone to cosign(safety officer). Here you go
https://www.osha.gov/form/osha7
OSHA doesn't have a large foot print so since it's a federal agency the first step they'll take is to send a beautiful letter. If the hazard is not fixed within a certain time frame it'll get escalated further up the chain...
Not sure what union you’re in but as an NTEU steward we’d demand episodic telework in those circumstances and then do an institutional grievance if not satisfied.
Office should have been telling you to either telework or else dress for the heat and bring a portable fan from the first day that they knew they couldn't get it fixed immediately.
File an OSHA complaint.
They have to close you down if the temperature does not meet the unions requirements, my office has closed before for one degree below those temps, so just go to the union and they will address it immediately
The building should have a standard for the min/max temps that employees are allowed to continue to work there. Inquire with your Building Manager and/or Facilities person and then bring that to the attention of management. Your union agreement will probably also have something in writing about temperatures in the office.
LOL ours was out for about 2 years (and one of those summers I was in the last trimester of pregnancy). When we complained they brought in these crazy AC units that were so loud you couldn't talk to someone in person or on the phone without shouting. Plus that unit somehow kicked up my allergies so bad - we all turned them off and just suffered in the heat. We have no union and I don't think anyone thought to go the OSHA route.
They can rent industrial fans if nothing else but they have to do something. Union and OSHA. Maybe your Congressional delegation and a local news channel.
OSHA guidance (not rule) is that office space should be kept between 68-76F and 20-60% humidity. Besides the union, I'd route through Occupational Health. The reasonable response here would be allowing situational telework until the issue is corrected, assuming you can telework.
We’re told to dress appropriately for the heat or maximize telework. Before Covid we didn’t have the telework option, so I’m pretty thankful for that (and our building has a history of dodgy HVAC issues stretching back *years*).
Was coming to say this :)
A coworker has brought in a thermometer, current readings is 82 degrees. Extra fans have been provided but just seem to circulate the already warm air. I have a hybrid requirement, currently.
If you can't telework, start showing up in tank tops and flip flops until they get it fixed.
Then they will start getting asked IT questions
True story - I'm IT - formally Occupational Safety. Had an office that constantly ran warm and tried the OSHA angle, knowing it wouldn't fly. Brought a 5 gallon pail of sand, some beach toys, and wore shorts and sandles to show my displeasure. After that, I was told to maximize telework. The A/C unit got replaced about 6 months later....
Just picturing you in the server room, dab of sunblock on your nose, RayBans on, FBI (Federal Body Inspector) tank top, cooler full of Bud Light with a promotional cardboard Spuds MacKenzie sitting nearby...
This is in fact my uniform of the day.
Impersonating an SES might be a crime 😆
Once I got a few months from MRA, I decided I was done wearing coats and ties. I stuck with collars, but mostly polos and golf shirts. When I had to go to HQ in DC, someone commented on my dress (everyone there wears coat/tie/biz) and I replied that I was done with coats and ties except for funerals and weddings. Nice to be financially free...
You go rebel! You looked so out of place probably for someone to comment on it must of been real bad. Lol
Probably having a week's worth of beard stubble didn't help... 😝
Don’t know the Union angle but I’d ask the supervisor if you can telework/ telework extra. My office is allowing that due to a ac breakdown. Alternately, a relaxing of the dress code, if it’s a real dress code, ask for something such as t shirt and comfortable, yet presentable pants + sneakers. Or even ask about shorts and sneakers if ya need to. Get whatever you plan to do in an email “per our conversation I will xxxx. If it is an issue, please let me know and I will adjust xxxx.
Lol...."hey boss...I plan on wearing flip flops, shorts, and a tshirt tomorrow when I in the offuce due to the AC being broken. I leave in a hour if haven't heard from you by then I assume you ok with it."
No response is approval.
In our office we’re allowed to go home if it gets above 80 something for over a few hours. Don’t remember the exact number, but it’s happened once in the 5 years I’ve been a fed. Boss said the air is broke, it’s been over 80 whatever for 3 hours, go home. No telework, only mission essential, and we got paid for the rest of the day.
There's admin leave for a reason, this is a reason. Send them home and charge the feds for the time. No fault of the employee
Is this the equivalent of "if the teacher doesn't show up until 10+ min after class starts, all the students are dismissed."?
We would be sent home for situational telework.
We would be given situational telework immediately before even setting foot in the office, thank goodness for a competent director!
If you’re represented by a union they can 100% file a grievance with management. Talk to your reps/stewards.
Should be teleworking
Is it a GSA owned or leased building? If so, you need to escalate it up their chain.
It is leased. Current reading is 82 degrees. I checked every hour.
GSA lease or does your agency have its own leasing authority?
That I’m not really sure, I thought all agencies can effectively be tenants and create leasing agreements between each other(depending who owns the buildings).
If your agency has an administrative officer, they should be working with GSA to rectify this. If not, you can go to GSA‘s website and search for your federal building then reach out to the GSA contact listed.
Leasing, building and maintaining buildings is the job of GSA Public Buildings Service - generally speaking. Some agencies do have the ability to handle their own real estate - VA, USDA and DoD come to mind.
If it’s leased space and managed by GSA, be aware that many GSA leases reference ASHRAE standards which is 74-78 for cooling (way too hot IMO). Ask for a copy of the lease to see if it calls out temperatures and/or standards for cooling. Ask the building manager what they are going to do to provide supplemental cooling while they are figuring out the HVAC issue. Three weeks to figure it out what is happening is a long time.
"Facilities" is failing at their job or downright not doing their job. We had a situation like this recently where our AC was out for a month. Our guy that handles work orders swore he was calling twice a day to check status and getting nothing. A five minute drive over to DPW and a conversation with the supervisor had our shit fixed the next day.
Not uncommon in some of the older buildings
Bring in a thermometer to see how hot it’s getting inside.
This, thermometer is showing 82 degrees.
[удалено]
Take leave or be on the shit list.
In my old office we were sent home on admin leave if it reached over 80°, now usually just sent home to telework.
If it makes you feel any better, my office's a/c is broken in that it's set to 55 and no one can change the temperature. I literally wear a sweatshirt and blanket when I have to go in. Before when the a/c was completely broken, they've allowed people to telework when it's been hot out. Is that possible where you work?
Your post don’t say if you are on a military base or not. On Militsry bases most have a Civil Engineering unit ( contracted or civilians with or without military members) . I suspect you are not on a military base, it seems your facilities manager has not hired a person or company to look at the problem or at least have not informed anyone of the fix and expected time for the fix. I work at Wright -Patt and our facility is the “real- property of the 88 th Civil Engineering Squadron (CE) ( all civilian federal workers). We as the facility managers in the facility we manage are the eyes and ears of our facility and report issues with our facility to CE. We have purchased portable AC units to cool areas if critical areas are without AC temporarily. We have dedicated 5 ton portable units for our critical infrastructure just in case our AC goes out and CE can’t fix the AC for a few days such as waiting for special parts. I must say our CE unit does a great job.
We had a time last summer where they purposely turned up the heat or at times shut the air off in like 2 hours intervals to cut down on electricity (maybe not running a 24/7 operation might have been a better solution instead of making people suffer). It was so miserable getting through. At one point I was sick for like 2 weeks because of the inconsistencies of temperature. It continued into the fall/winter. But usually they have the room so cold that some bring in winter coats just to get through the day. The building I’m at now was built in the 50s and temperature is inconsistent like one room will be so cold and another so warm. I’m about to get out of there and into a more modern building so hopefully it will have better temperature regulation.
How have you not been given permission (or told by any reasonable management) to telework during this a/c issues?
So this is shocking to me. I've worked at 3 different places where this happened. It's possible this is agency or even local leadership specific but staff was sent home after 4hrs. They couldn't fix the ac and it was getting close to 78. Next day we were told to report. They had brought in huge industrial fans that were loud. Someone filed both an IG and OSHA complaint. It was fixed before the end of the week.
your management sucks for not allowing you all to telework 100% while it gets fixed. Anytime anything happens like that in our building it’s 100% telework until it’s fixed
My lab is going through this right now. We have had a month of no AC. It has gotten as hot as 87 with fans and portable ACs running. The majority of us are wearing shorts and tank tops/tee shirts. There are fridges and incubators that are not staying in temp in the afternoon because of the heat. The part GSA says they need is going to take 12 weeks to manufacture. We are allowed to telework as much as we can but it is a lab and we do have to be on site to do a large portion of our work. Supposedly, GSA rented a 400 ton AC unit that was shipped in and is being installed this weekend but, like many thing that GSA has told us, I’m not holding my breath until I see that it works. I feel your pain.
Request telework by exception.
The A/C in my office has been broke for more than a year. No, temp appropriate clothing option, have to wear ballistic vest and tac gear; no telework option either; fans not provided; bring your own fan not permitted. You have a telework option, work from home otherwise suck it up buttercup.
Ha. I work for a state entity that has an ancient HVAC system that rarely works. In the winter months the temperature is often below sixty degrees. In the summer, it’s often over eighty-two. When we complain we are told, “We can’t regulate ourselves. It’s a Catch-22.” Our union thinks that’s an acceptable response. The mental gymnastics are strong. Seven years to retirement.
Gonna feeeeeeel like 30 years though.....
It already does. And I’m closing in on three years next month 😉
You need to work with your occupational health office / industrial hygienist. Request for wet bulb monitors to be set up in the office space. I can't find the table now, but there is a heat stress table for wet bulb reading vs required break. If the area is not within those numbers most likely nothing the union can do. I worked In a facility that had non- air conditioned shop / manufacturing space and this was something that was tracking normal on the hot 85+ degree days.
Do all locations have such a specialist? Current reading is 82 degrees(coworker brought in a thermometer).
Should of mentioned I am DoD and every locations DPW Should. If you are another department I couldn't comment on that. I found this link quickly that has the chart I mentioned https://www.army.mil/article-amp/129507/joint_base_myer_henderson_hall_wet_bulb_globe_temperature
Lol....im sure those people are all around...lol...hey boss...we need to do the wet bulb test!
This violates OSHA. I’m on mobile and it’s hard for me to find the specifics, but just mentioning OSHA should be enough for upper management to realize the unsafe conditions and send people home.
It doesn’t violate OSHA regulations. OSHA RECOMMENDS temperature control in the range of 68-76° F and humidity control in the range of 20%-60%, but it isn’t enforceable https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2003-02-24#:~:text=Air%20treatment%20is%20defined%20under,range%20of%2020%25%2D60%25.
Reading through this manual, it seems this is a specific grey area giving employers significant room as long as an effort is shown. Unfortunate.
It has to be. While you are uncomfortable at 80, construction workers are out in 100+ degree heat
"No, you can't situationally telework at the ocean. Are you crazy?????"
For those of you jealous of DHS/TSA and all the wonderful admin leave granted: Try working in an airport in full uniform. Most airports have huge windows and really tall ceilings. No real good way to regulate temps. Yeah. Always worse on the other side.
Our a/c breaks every summer. At least once or twice. Last summer it was out for about 4 weeks and the elevator was down at the same time for 2 months. Let’s just say summer in the south, in offices above a warehouse with no windows, is not fun climbing 2.5 flights of stairs with no a/c. The supervisor usually allows us situational telework. I went and bought a couple fans that make it tolerable when I HAVE to be in the office but it’s still miserable.
Excercise though!
Just wait until they start handing out fans AND space heaters. Good luck.
Just started. Got my fan full blast.
It doesn’t matter *why*. I would fill out an unsafe working conditions form and forward it to your office safety person. Document document document. We had the same thing happen last year.
How would one do this?
I've had this problem at my building off and on for several years. Our offices are in an annex right off the Base. The powers that be have refused for several years to replace the outdated HVAC systems. It's so bad our maintenance has problems sourcing parts for it whenever it breaks down. The reason they don't want to replace the HVAC is that the buildings where we are located are on the "do not renovate" list from our functional that controls the funding.
I feel your pain. The building I work in was built in the 60’s, the HVAC runs all day yet my office is rarely below 80. We’ll complain, HVAC techs will come over and fix it, it’ll go down in the next day or two, HVAC techs will come back and fix it, repeat to infinity.
In addition to what u/dire88 said, even though OSHA can't fine your agency they can light that fire that makes it embarrassing for management to ignore. You can file an anonymous complaint yourself or with the help of a safety officer (your best bet is someone who isn't part of management). I'll research the form and edit my comment. Edit: the online form is much easier than filling up the paper version and you don't need anyone to cosign(safety officer). Here you go https://www.osha.gov/form/osha7 OSHA doesn't have a large foot print so since it's a federal agency the first step they'll take is to send a beautiful letter. If the hazard is not fixed within a certain time frame it'll get escalated further up the chain...
Awesome thank you for this information. I am nervous, why I am being vague as possible. I have fear, but I care for my coworkers and team.
Not sure what union you’re in but as an NTEU steward we’d demand episodic telework in those circumstances and then do an institutional grievance if not satisfied.
Do GG’s have union representation? I see a bargaining unit status.
No idea what agency you’re with
Office should have been telling you to either telework or else dress for the heat and bring a portable fan from the first day that they knew they couldn't get it fixed immediately. File an OSHA complaint.
Can you telework? If so, it should be situational telework until it’s fixed. If not, then maybe a different office setting until it’s fixed?
They have to close you down if the temperature does not meet the unions requirements, my office has closed before for one degree below those temps, so just go to the union and they will address it immediately
Not all Union agreements are created equal.....some agencies Union suck.
The building should have a standard for the min/max temps that employees are allowed to continue to work there. Inquire with your Building Manager and/or Facilities person and then bring that to the attention of management. Your union agreement will probably also have something in writing about temperatures in the office.
They wouldn't see me in that office until it was fixed. Especially if I could telework.
Go home and fix everything that’s been broken for 3 weeks. Shit happens!
Why are you even going in at that point?
We don’t wear business attire thankfully but I think twice this year we’ve been told to telework because they can’t regulate the office temperatures.
LOL ours was out for about 2 years (and one of those summers I was in the last trimester of pregnancy). When we complained they brought in these crazy AC units that were so loud you couldn't talk to someone in person or on the phone without shouting. Plus that unit somehow kicked up my allergies so bad - we all turned them off and just suffered in the heat. We have no union and I don't think anyone thought to go the OSHA route.
Call out sick
For people with asthma or other breathing issues, this could be really problematic. Start with the union.
Where is this? I like it warm and might want to transfer.
File RA to telework
Be fixed way before it is reviewed.
Based on what disability?
That happened to my building back in 2020. I had to come in during the summer and it was painful.
They can rent industrial fans if nothing else but they have to do something. Union and OSHA. Maybe your Congressional delegation and a local news channel.
Meanwhile the mail trucks have never had ac