Is there an EU law on ventilation?

I work for a company that does consulting for a large multinational, which regularly places highly in the Best Companies to Work For list. Thing is, they are stuck for space at the moment so have moved a bunch of us contractors (no full timers) into a portacabin measuring about 13 by 25 metres.

There is no air conditioning or air vents. When the windows are closed it is a completely sealed box.

With the cold weather it is not fair on those sitting right under the windows to have them open so we are left with totally stagnant air.

I'm wondering are there any EU directives on ventilation or number of air changes required per hour as this would give weight to our case as at the moment productivity and immune systems are dropping visibly due to the recycled air and lack of oxygen.

Thanks

The HSA might be able to apprise you of any legislation relevant to this situation.

Are you a member of a trade union? Or perhaps the employees of the company you are consulting to are members. If so it might be worth your while contacting them.

Thanks Clubman - I'll look at that link.

Ajapale - nope, neither set of employees are members of a union. There has been talk of getting this sorted with A/C but nothing happening quickly. I don't want to make too big a deal of it, but a joking reference to an EU directive would surely move things along.

There are legal min/max values of Co2 and O2. You can get these meassured by the health and safety board ( phone book) or you can buy an instrument yourself .
Health and the releated work performance is no joke by the way....You should have a health+ safety inspector anyway. If this company with the good ranking is providing for the work space ( the cabin) they should make it safe.

Heat , comfort etc are fairly low in importance for the HSA, who are under resourced as it is. Much more emotive are the Fire regulations, and Fire Safety which should increase the amout of space you have, if enforced, re fire exits, access and egress. A company that size must have a Safety Officer, bring it to their attention.

Hi OP,

Did you have any success with the HSA site? I had a look and could not find anything about ventillation, temperature or general working conditions on the web site using the sit search facility.

I did however eventually find this article on [broken link removed].


aj