Personal Heaters in Winter

During the colder months many people, particularly those with poor blood circulation, may feel the office heating is not good enough or work in draughty or semi-open buildings, like warehouses. In these circumstances some staff take personal comfort into their own hands and bring their own heater to work.

So, the question is should we allow our staff to use their own heaters at work, or does the business have a duty to ensure their reasonable thermal comfort?

Legislative Requirements

The workplace safety legislation does not prescribe a minimum temperature for workplaces. One of the main reasons for this is many people work in semi-open buildings eg warehouses, or outdoors where the air temperature is controlled by the seasons and the daily weather conditions.

Most state safety authorities provide guidance on thermal comfort. Refer to their website.

Risks of Personal Heaters

The obvious and biggest risk associated with personal heaters is fire. This can arise from things like:

• Items draped over the heater catching fire,

• Electrical faults in the heater,

• Tripping hazards from heaters or electrical leads in work areas,

• Ignition risk if heater tipped over or if flammable material or fumes nearby.

• Toxic fumes eg carbon monoxide build-up if combustion type heater with inadequate ventilation.

Fixed vs Portable Heaters

Where possible, fixed electrical or gas heaters are preferred as they eliminate heaters being tipped over or slip and trip hazards eg from electrical leads or fuel hoses.                

Where portable heaters are used, they need to be stable, located in safe location where they don’t trip people up or obstruct access to emergency equipment or threaten exits in the event of a fire.

Best Practice

Where possible businesses should provide adequate thermal comfort in the workplace, but of course individuals need to be prepared to wear appropriate clothing in layers to allow for personal preferences.

If a gas heater is used to provide thermal comfort for workers they must only be used in well-ventilated areas.

Heaters with no exposed hot elements are safer, and all portable heaters should have safety features like auto-shut off if tipped over or over-heat.

Where businesses choose to allow staff to bring heaters to work, they should be checked for safety, and staff follow company safety standards eg no trip or fire hazards.

For a copy of our Fact Sheet on “Thermal Comfort in Offices”, or “Working in the Cold” call 03 8544 4300 or click here to email.