Cooling patches, air conditioner polices and good old iced coffee: Offices turn to novel solutions to beat the heat

Cooling patches, handy fans and ice-filled bottles have become indoor essentials to endure extreme heat at the office this summer.

Condenser units connected to indoor air conditioners operate outside of a building in downtown Seoul last Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Cooling patches, handy fans and ice-filled bottles have become indoor essentials to endure extreme heat at the office this summer.

A pharmaceutical company’s office worker puts several cooling patches on his body during work hours. He said the patches “help cool down his body temperatures although the products were made as a medical aid for children with fever.”

Another company in Gangnam District spent 30 million won ($22,564) to install an additional air conditioner inside its office around three years ago after it found that the office's existing air conditioner was insufficient as it turned off after 6 p.m. every day. To prevent employees from sweating and struggling during their overtime work in the evening, the company operates air conditioners that its employees can control day and night.

“Although the installation was costly, working at the office in summer would have been disastrous if not for the air conditioner that the company bought,” an anonymous worker from the Gangnam-based company said. He noted that his colleagues have their personal handy fans and tumblers filled with ice cubes on their desks. He also said that iced coffee was "essential” these days.

Yet, some are shivering because of freezing indoor air conditioning. Another office worker from a different company told the JoongAng Ilbo that he and his colleagues "had to buy hoodies because of excessively cold air conditioning.” He said that “people in shorts and short-sleeve tops and those wearing fleeced jackets coexist” in the office in summer.

Protracted heat wave warnings have contributed to work environment improvements for public servants, a report from JoongAng Ilbo on Monday said.

“The Interior Ministry used to oversee air conditioning systems and operations at local district offices in past years" as an energy-saving measure, a local district office worker said. “There have been no such inspections this year.”

He also said that local district offices and community centers designated as heat wave shelters increased this year, crediting the measure for making a more pleasant labor environment for public service workers compared to previous years.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety mandates government offices to maintain indoor temperatures at 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees Fahrenheit). However, certain public facilities are exempt from the rule. Officers working in public service areas where people frequently visit to submit their complaints or heat wave shelters have the authority to set the temperatures below the ministry’s threshold at their discretion.

In Seoul, approximately 2,000 heat wave shelters have been designated at district offices and community centers.

Indoor air conditioner and temperature adjusting system installed at a community center in Seoul [JOONGANG ILBO]

A public service worker surnamed Ku said his office “has been maintaining indoor temperatures of between 21 and 24 degrees Celsius because it is also used as a heat wave shelter.”

Although the office’s temperature is lower than the Interior Ministry’s threshold, a crowded workspace with more than 20 workers densely packed into a 19.9 square meter (214 square feet) space is not ideal in summer. An indoor thermometer showed that the perceived temperature was 28 degrees Celsius.

A person swelters in front of a thermometer indicating a daily temperature of 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Seocho District, southern Seou,l on Monday. [YONHAP]

The JoongAng Ilbo reported that the Labor Ministry’s updated guidance to prevent heat-induced illnesses, which reflected each industry’s work practices, has become obsolete due to the record-long heat waves. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects daily electricity demand to surge to 97.2 gigawatts this summer, higher than Monday’s historic record of 95.6 gigawatts.

Seoul recorded its longest stretch of tropical nights in 117 years of modern meteorological observation history. The national weather agency said Seoul will likely see morning lows above 25 degrees Celsius through Aug. 28. If so, the city will see tropical nights for 40 consecutive days.

With heat wave warnings issued nationwide, the Korea Meteorological Administration is considering publishing its first-ever white paper about heat waves.

BY SHIN HYE-HYEON, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]