Welfare at work - Guidance for employers on welfare ... - HSE

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. 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.

2 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; 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.

3 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?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?

4 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. 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.

5 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 .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.

6 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. 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 ; 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.

7 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?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.

8 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?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) HSE Boo ks 199 8Pr ovi sio n of wel fare facil ities at tr ansi en t con stru ctionsitesCon stru ction In form ationSh eet CIS 46 HSE Boo ks 199 7 Furtherinf orm ati onFor infor mati on about heal th and safety ,or to rep ort incons isten cies or inaccuraciesin thi s gu idance , vi sit ww se.

9 You can view HSE gu idan ce on lin e andorde r pr ice d publ icat ions from the web site. HSE priced pu blications are alsoavail abl e fr om books hop s doc um ent con tai ns noteson goodpra ct ice whic h are not compulsorybut wh ic h you may fi nd helpf ul in cons ider ing what you nee d to s leafl et is ava ilab le in pri ced packs of 20 from HSE Books ,IS BN 978 0 71 76 6264 7. Si ngl e copiesare free an d a web versioncan be foundat: ww w. hs e. gov .uk/ pubns /i ndg 293. pdf. Cr ow n co pyr igh tIf you wi sh to reu se th is info rmat ion visitwww .hse .g ov. uk/co pyrig ht. ht m for pub lished 09 /0 of 4 pag esPub lish ed by the Hea lth an d safety ExecutiveINDG293(rev1)09/1 1He alth and SafetyExecutiv