Welfare at work - Guidance for employers on …

1 Intr odu ctionIf yo u em pl oy an yone (ho wevershort th e perio d) you must so far as is reaso nablypr acti cab le , pr ovide adequate an d ap propriatewelfarefacilitiesfor th em whil e theyare at wo rk. This mean s yo u must provid e su ch facilitiesunles s it is clearlyunr easo nab le in terms of ti me, trou bl e, cost and phys ical difficulty. We lfar e fa ciliti es are tho se that are necessaryfor the well-b eing of you remp loye es, such as was hing , to ilet, rest and ch angin g facilities,and so mewhereclea n to eat and dri nk durin g bre s leafl et gi ves you simpl e, practi cal ad vice on how you can meet th eserequ ire me nts.

2 The info rmat ion may al so be of interest to emp loyeesand the sel f- em sum ma ri ses th e requ irem ents of the Wo rkp lace (H eal th, Safetyan d Welfare )Re gul atio ns 1992. See Fi nd out more for other usefu l info rm at may al so find it useful to discu ss yo ur need s with man ufactu rers an d su ppl iersof welfa re fa cil iti es, servi ces and con su ilet and wash ing faci li ties do I need to provi de?You ha ve to provi de ad equatetoi let an d wash ing facilitiesfor your em ployees. A de qua te means you have to pro vid e: enou gh toil ets and washb asi ns for tho se exp ected to use them_peo pl e sh oul dnot have to qu eue fo r long peri od s to go to th e toilet; wher e po ssi bl e, separate faci liti es for men an d women_fai ling th at , room s wi thlockable door s; clean fac ili tie s_to help achi eve thi s wal ls an d fl oors sho uld preferably be ti led(or cove red in sui tabl e waterproofmat erial) to make th em easierto clean; a su ppl y of toil et paper an d, for fem ale employees, a meansof dispos ing ofsani tar y dress ings.

3 Facil iti es that are well lit an d ven ti lat ed; facil iti es wit h ho t and co ld run ni ng water; enou gh soap or other was hing agen ts; a bas in lar ge eno ugh to was h han ds and forearmsif necessary; a me ans for dryi ng hand s, eg pap er to wels or a hot air dryer; show er s wher e neces sary , eg for particularlydirt y must alw ays cons ider the need s of th ose with alth and SafetyExec ut iveWelfareatworkGui dan ce fo r employerson wel fare pr ovi sio nsHealthand Safety ExecutiveWelfare at workGuidanceforemployers on Welfare provisions1 of 4 pag esThisisaweb-friendlyversionofleafletIND G293(rev1)Howman y fac il ities do I needto pr ovid e?

4 The foll owi ng tabl es sho w the mi ni mum nu mber of toiletsan d wash bas ins thatsho uld be pro vided .Whatif staff work in remote workp laceswit hou t sui tab leplu mbingan d a wat er su ppl y?You may ne ed to pro vid e chem ical toilets an d wash ing facilities,su ch as wat ercont ain er my em pl oyeesare worki ng at temp oraryworks it es? S o far as is reas onabl y practi cabl e you need to provid e flu shin g toiletsandru nn ing wat er. Por tabl e cab ins con vertedinto toilet facilitiesare availablefro m hirecom pan ies . If this is not pos si bl e, con sid er alternativessuch as chemicaltoil etsand wat er con tain of publ ic toi let s and wash ing facilitiessh ou ld be a last resort and notused just beca use they are the ch eap er op tion.

5 This would not be accep tablewher e th e pr ovis ion of bet ter faci liti es wou ld be reas onab ly I need to pr ovi de drin ki ng wat er?Yes . The law req ui res that you provi de drin king water an d ensu re th at: it is fr ee fr om cont ami nati on an d is preferablyfrom the public water sup ply_bottl ed wat er dis pens ers are acceptable as a secon dary sup ply; it is ea sil y acc ess ibl e by al l emp loyees;2 of 4 pag esWe lfa re at wo rk - Guidan ce fo r em ployerson welfar e prov isionsHe alth and SafetyExecutiv eTable2To ilet s us ed by menonlyNumberofmenatworkNumberoftoiletsN umberofurinals1-151116-302131-452246-603 261-753376-904391-10044 Table1Nu mbe r of toiletsand washbasinsfor mixeduse (or womenonly)NumberofpeopleatworkNumberofto iletsNumberofwashbasins1-5116-252226-503 351-7 54476-10055 there are ad eq uat e sup pli es taki ng into con siderationth e temp eratu re of thewor kin g en viro nmen t an d types of work activity; cups or a dr inki ng fo untai n ar e pro vi ded.

6 Dr inking wat er doe s not have to be markedun less th ere is a significant risk ofpeop le dr inking no n-d rinki ng wat er .Do I have to pr ovi de a roo m fo r thosewh o sm oke?No. It is aga ins t th e law to sm oke in virtu all y all en closedpub lic placesan dwor kpl aces in Engl and, incl udi ng most work veh icles. Similarleg islat ion ex ists inSco tlan d and Wal es. Furt her inform ation is availableatwww .sm okefre eeng lan .u sh oul d I makefor meal br eaks?Ther e sh oul d be a sui tab le seati ng area for workersto use durin g breaks_it need sto be cl ean and locat ed where fo od will not get co e sh oul d be washi ng faci liti es nearby,an d a mean s of heatingfood or water forhot dr inks.

7 You mus t mai ntai n go od hygien e stan ies do I needto pro vid e fo r ch angi ng and stori ngclot hing ?If the wor k act ivit y requi res your em ployeesto ch ang e into and wear speci ali stclot hin g (over all s, a uni fo rm , thermalclot hin g etc), then you mus t provideeno ughchan gin g ro oms fo r th e num ber of peop le exp ected to use ere a cha ngi ng roo m is pro vi ded it sho uld : be re adi ly ac ces sible; conta in, or lead di rectl y to, cl oth ing storageand wash ing facilities; provi de seati ng ; provi de a me an s for hang ing cl ot hes_a ho ok or peg may be su ffi ci ent.

8 Ensu re the privacy of th e us ar ate use of ch angi ng facil iti es sho uld be available to men an d y to pr event em plo yees own cl oth ing cominginto cont act with work -soiledclot hin g or getti ng di rty or wet. Provi de sep arate st orage for clean an dcont ami nat ed cloth ing which : allo ws wet clot hin g to be hu ng up to dry ou t durin g th e cou rse of th e day; is well ven til ar ate gui dan ce is avail abl e from HSE Bookson th e pro vi sion of pers onalprot ecti ve eq uip ment (see Fi nd ou t more ).Do I need to pr ovi de res t facil iti es for pr egnant wom en andnu rsingmo the rs?

9 Yes , if it is re ason ably practi cabl e for you to do so. You may need to providearoom for pregn ant wo men /nu rsi ng moth ers to rest or lie do alth and SafetyExecutiv eWe lfa re at work - Guida nce fo r em ploy ers on welf are provisions3 of 4 pagesIf I do all this, have I done en ough ?No. You mu st also ens ure that the facilitiesare kep t clean an d in good condit ion,and tha t th ere is always an adeq uate sup ply of toilet pap er , soap etc. Th is meansthat you need to put in pl ace an effectivesys tem to main tain them to a highstan dar d, incl uding reg ul ar cl eanin k your self_wo ul d yo u be happ y to use the wel fare facilitiesyo u provid e for you remp loye es?

10 Fin d out mo reWor kpla ce healt h, safet y and we lfare:A short gu id e for man agersLeaf let IND G24 4(rev1 ) HS E Books 2006 (sin gle cop y free or priced packsof 15IS BN 978 0 71 76 6192 3)Wor kpla ce healt h, safet y and we rkplace(Health, Safetyan d Welfare )Regulati ons 1992 . App rovedCodeof Practiceand gu idan ceL2 4 HSE Books1992IS BN 978 0 71 76 0413 5A shor t gui de to the Pers onal Pro tectiveEquipment at Wo rk Regu lat ions 199 2 IND G17 4(re v1) HSE Bo oks 20 05 (si ngle cop y free or priced packsof 15IS BN 978 0 71 76 6141 1)Pr ovi sio n of wel fare facil ities at fi xed con stru ctionsitesCon struct ion In form ati onSh eet CIS 18( rev1)