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Comment by ydlr | Hacker News Reader

We should implement this in Florida. I wouldn't mind a five month vacation.

It's already somewhat implemented in Florida. OSHA requires employers to protect employees from extreme heat. It doesn't explicitly require air conditioning, but air conditioning is standard practice in Florida so not providing it would open up employers to an OSHA complaint.

For outdoor work, protection from extreme heat generally implies shade, hydration, frequent breaks, et cetera.

OSHA? Isn't that a DEI program?

Your workplace in Florida has an interior temperature of 86F? This is about temperature in the workplace, not outside temperatures.

Most remotely modern interior spaces in Florida are going to be air conditioned so this is already not a problem in Florida.

> This is about temperature in the workplace, not outside temperatures

According to the article, the 30C threshold is for "more demanding jobs in sectors like agriculture and construction", which generally take place outdoors

Plenty of construction work takes place indoors as well. That said, the linked article isn't very clear on that aspect. It also mentions a minimum temperature of 16C in the UK which outdoors would be quite a lovely day, but rather cold for an office or other indoor workspace.

Do you have to live & work in un-ac'd buildings?

Cos today in my pokey town, my house is 30°C, my local library 28°C the gym is at least 25°C and the outside 31°C at a dew point of 15°C. Its not Florida but its the UK and there’s no relief.

From the article, it's for "jobs in sectors like agriculture and construction". Would be interesting to learn about how this kind of work is managed in hotter climates.

For office work, a lot of European countries (especially the UK) haven't invested in AC as much as the rest of the world because they haven't needed to. This is especially apparent in housing, where working from home is becoming difficult in these higher temperatures.

I play games with a guy who does concrete work in Arizona, he mostly works at night.

I lived for a while in Tucson, Arizona.

Days could be brutally hot ( easily over 100 F ), but there was little humidity. My transportation was a motorcycle ( with additional heat radiating off the engine ), so mid often feel a little uncomfortable, but it was definitely livable.

Interestingly, homeowners often used evaporative ‘swamp coolers’ instead of AC. A big benefit of low humidity.

> how this kind of work is managed in hotter climates.

Natural adaptation.

I lived in the southern US for a long time. Any office I ever worked in would send everyone home if the AC was broken in the summer.

I was about to make the same comment about Minnesota, but I'd only get a three month vacation.

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