Council staff will be able to rest in "chill-out rooms" if temperatures soar this summer.

Managers are being advised to work out "rest regimes" and provide cool drinks and chilled spring water dispensers.

Some parched workers may also be allowed to dispense with their suits, collars and ties and wear shorts instead.

The "comfort strategy", which has been sent to managers, says all workplaces should have adequate ventilation. It adds: "If windows are opened they can be used to provide ventilation."

Managers are advised staff should have "cool breaks " on hot days where they can go to a cooler area to rest for ten to 15 minutes.

The small working party looked at measures both long and short term in hot and cold weather conditions which could be used by managers and people responsible for buildings.

But today leader of the Council's Tory group Councillor Margaret Eaton said: "This is daft to the point of lunacy. I wonder how many people and meetings it took for people to realise that opening a window provides ventilation.

"With the staff getting stress therapy and cool breaks it is a wonder that anything gets done. Staff will surely use their own initiative to maintain a comfortable environment at work. I'm sure the last thing we need is more strategies and regulations turning City Hall into more of a private health spa than a place of work."

Leader of the Liberal Democrat group Councillor Jeanette Sunderland said: "I would suggest the Council should be looking at real staffing issues, like why the people have to eat their lunch at their desks because they have nowhere to go."

Graham Raey, principal consultant in health and safety said the advice was only for very extreme weather conditions like 27 or 28 degrees. "The staff are not pampered in any way.

"It is really advice to managers about how it can be dealt with," he said.

T&A Opinion

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