Hired air conditioning units can provide extra cooling power in offices of all sizes; and with summer temperatures looking set to rise, the option to rent portable air conditioning units is something many office managers will be considering. Why? Because so many offices' fixed (or 'built-in') air con across the country are faulty or simply do not have the capacity to provide enough cool air when needed, particularly during a long hot summer.
Concentration issues
In a hot office, workers can have difficulty concentrating on their work*; they can also have (or cause) workplace accidents. All this can affect productivity and reduce workplace safety, making office air conditioners for hire an invaluable option when temperatures soar.
* According to a 2011 CareerBuilder survey, when asked if the office temperature affected their ability to get work done, more than one-in-five (22 per cent) workers said that a "too hot" work environment made it difficult to concentrate..
What the Law says
Employers have a responsibility to ensure their workplace is a comfortable environment (temperature-wise)*. That means a small individual office, or indeed a large office building, needs to be warm enough in winter, and cool enough in summer, for staff to work in without feeling stressed, or even ill.
When temperatures climb, office staff can develop headaches, heat rashes, cramps, dizziness, and other physical conditions - all directly linked to there not being a sufficient cool air supply provided by their employer. This can leave the employer vulnerable to litigation, which can be extremely expensive, and could also be a protracted process; meaning company efficiency and productivity could be affected (negatively impacting on profits in turn).
* Temperatures in the workplace are covered by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, which place a legal obligation on employers to provide a "reasonable" temperature in the working environment. There is no maximum temperature quoted in the Regulations; although the minimum temperature given is 16 degrees Celsius for sedentary activities.
During office redesign and refurbishment, adequate air con is often overlooked
When an office is remodelled (to be in keeping with the latest structural layout and interior design trends), unfortunately, the existing air conditioning provision is often not simultaneously upgraded; little or no consideration is given to whether the supply of cool air will adequately serve the different areas of the office (or large office building) once the redesign is complete. So, workers can experience the same aforementioned health issues as before the redesign, despite now arriving for work each day at an office that is supposed to be 'state-of-the-art'.
Planned maintenance and servicing
It is not only in the event of a fixed air conditioning system breakdown at an office that hired portable air con units could be required. During planned maintenance and servicing of a fixed system, leased mobile air conditioning units could be used, to help sustain a comfortable working temperature for office staff until the planned work is completed.
How specialist air conditioning hire companies work
If a fixed air conditioning system fails at an office, or the system simply does not have the capacity to provide a sufficient amount of cool air, a specialist portable air con team will respond immediately to an emergency call-out.
Rentable air conditioning units for offices are reliable and cost-effective, and can be:
- Used immediately;
- Easily stored;
- Hired on a short contract basis, and then returned;
- The perfect 'stop gap' between the removal of an existing air conditioning system at an office, and the installation of a new one;
- Added to a fixed air conditioning solution when extra air conditioning is required.
A specialist in air conditioning hire could also work with an office manager to formulate a contingency plan, with a site survey being an integral part of this: both parties could agree plans to safeguard the office from the aforementioned consequences of a fixed air conditioning system failure - staff efficiency and productivity could remain unaffected, however high the summer temperature climbs.
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