In the recent hot weather air conditioning purchases have “increased by 3% and continue to rise,” says the CEO of a well known air conditioning company. Air cooling and commercial refrigeration is vital in this hot spell, and service calls heave reached sky high numbers.

This rise is down to the units working overtime and well into the evening in an effort to keep many buildings at a reasonable working temperature. This makes them susceptible to breakdowns particularly if they have not been well maintained or annually checked.

For example, the normal volume of service calls made on an average day for air conditioning units in Manchester is usually around 100 for a regular sized company, but this has rocketed to around 200 in the hot weather we have been experiencing.

The 100% increase has led many companies to extend their working hours temporarily to 24 hours a day 7 days a week, rather than the usual 8am to 8pm hours. This means many more people can connect to an operator who will send an engineer out to them, usually within the next day.

Air conditioning companies are urging people to contact the certified air conditioning manufacturer’s service line rather than opt for cheaper repair men to fix the job, as this leads to a weaker economy for the business.

Although the cheaper rates may be tempting, a proper engineer sent from the company will know the specific workings of that unit and will more likely have spare parts on hand to replace there-and-then. In fact, 75% of engineers can fix the unit on that one visit, and more severe cases of breakdown can be fixed within 5 days of the callout and usually within 2 to 3 visits. This can be sooner if you are classed as a high priority case, for example, a large office with over 20 employees present.

Lighting and ventilation are two important issues which have a required legal standard to be met in the workplace.

Firstly, the law states that suitable and sufficient lighting is maintained in any workplace. This includes:

maximum provision of natural daylight avoidance of fluorescent lighting where possible maximum control by individual workers of ambient lighting including the provision of desk lights and uplighters selection of suitable lighting for the task to be performed avoidance of dazzle and glare, by repositioning of lights if necessary and by the introduction of non-reflective surfaces suitable lighting for both indoor and external traffic routes suitable positioning of light switches immediate repair or replacement of all faulty lights, light fittings and cabling.

If the workplace is not sufficiently lit, it can lead employees to suffer from headaches, eye irritations, fatigue and stress. If you feel your workplace is not reasonably lit, you are entitled to go and speak to your employer about it. They then have a duty to correct the situation for the good of their employees and the workplace.

The law also requires that a suitable and reasonable working temperature is maintained. This temperature may be different in different working environments, and it is usually left to each company to decide what works best in that location. Many companies are tackling this issue by investing in air conditioning units.

In the recent hot weather, airconditioning in Manchester has increased by around 10 per cent. The units should be regularly checked and maintained, as well as filtered to remove all impurities. It is also the law to provide suitable commercial refrigeration to ensure any food on the property is kept at a suitable cool temperature. If you feel you are not working at a good temperature, again it is up to you to inform your employer who then should correct the issue.