Unions have welcomed a call by MPs for a maximum workplace temperature.

The recommendation from the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) is included in its new report, ‘Heatwaves: adapting to climate change’. This warns of 7,000 heat-related deaths every year in the UK by 2050 if the government doesn’t act quickly. It adds, in a lengthy list of recommendations: “The government should consult on introducing maximum workplace temperatures, especially for work that involves significant physical effort.”

Launching the report, Labour MP Mary Creagh, who chairs committee, said: “Heatwaves threaten health, well-being and productivity.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The law only gives minimum working temperatures, but the hot summer we’re having has shown the need for a maximum limit too. It’s great to have support from MPs for this commonsense policy, and we hope the government will take quick action.”

Jerry Swain, Unite’s national officer for construction, said site workers sweltering outside or in confined indoor areas were both at risk. “We’ve had reports where nothing is being done and people are just expected to carry on working. Heat can make you lightheaded or dizzy and on a construction site, where you’ve got machinery, that’s a real risk,” he said.

Dan Shears, health and safety director with the GMB, said “there is a clear need to look again at a maximum workplace temperature, and to develop clear and unambiguous guidance on what should done when temperatures hit 25 degrees.” He added: “It shouldn’t take a heatwave alert to force employers to take action. This is an issue every year, and it is only likely to become more common, so the government should act now by implementing the EAC recommendations in full.”