Providing Drinks at work

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Fascinating - and surprise surprise this is public sector! I don't think that having to go down seven floors is "adequate" at all!

All - many thanks for these points.

Martin - as per Gilly's point, I was wondering whether a water supply 5 floors down could be considered 'readily accessible'?

I am going to time myself walking down the stairs (the lift is, of course, out of order), filling up my bottle and coming back up, multiplying that by 2 (as we should all be drinking 2 litres of water a day!) and that by the number of people in the office to get total minutes wasted.

As I work in the public sector I fear this may fall of deaf ears however.

Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regs Reg 22 states:
"(1) An adequate supply of wholesome drinking water shall be provided for all persons at work in the workplace.
(2) Every supply of drinking water required by paragraph (1) shall -
(a) be readily accessible at suitable places; and
(b) be conspicuously marked by an appropriate sign where necessary for reasons of health or safety."
This indicates it should be "readily accesible" and is a "shall" (as in duty) not an "AFARP" as in "reasonably practicable.

Simon, I agree with Kevin, and this kind of knee-jerk short-sightedness seems to be the trend in management circles now.

On the other hand, maybe they watched Dragons Den, and will be buying all their staff collapsible bottles now.

Simon, Provision for drinking water is all that is required, there is no implied require for "readily Accessible".

You have to remember of course that everything is based of what is "reasonably practical" or from a legal point of view "If it can be done" then "it will be done".

But that's all! I just hope that whoever made the decision to provide just drinking point knows what they are doing. Just wait for the first example of someone slipping on the stairs and they may well re-think their approach. All you can do is advise of the potential risk and then let them make the decision.

This seems very short-sighted to me. The downtime likely to be caused by employees travelling to the fountain and back, possibly even queueing, will probably exceed the cost of providing a supply to each floor.
Then you can expect increased lift traffic (and use of electricity), regular spills (which could lead to slips and falls, and by extension absence through accident) and impact on customers, if they happen to share the traffic route and lifts with employees.

I work on the 5th floor of a 7 storey building and have today been told that the water coolers on each floor will be removed, and 1 mains supply fountain installed on the ground floor.

Is there any case law on the meaning of "readily accessible" in Regulation 22?

This indg244 may be more easily understood as it breaks down the composite elements for welfare and facilities rather than too much legislative jargon.

I hope it helps.

Graham

You should visit HSE's website and download L24 free of charge, Link below.
This is specific to workplace welfare generally with regulation 22 refering explicitly to the provision of drinking water.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l24.htm

Under the HASAWA 1974 all employers have a duty to their employees to make provision for Welfare facilities, this would include access to a rest area, drinking facilities (this could take any form from just tap water to hot/cold drinks).

Rest periods are a legal requirement that must be available to all employees. Any employer failing to make this provision is in direct violation of the HASAWA under section 2 (2) d.

I would advise any employer to pay special regard to this basic requirement. as for the leisure industry employers, I can only say they should know better.

Thank you for posting your reply

The leisure facility is in fact a bowling alley, so staff are primarily working on our Reception, Bar and Diner.

Its not really an issue of what the staff are drinking as we allow them access to free tea, coffee and squash.

I have to say that I am all for allowing staff access to bottled water etc primarily with the sports caps so they cant spill them. I also believe that although it doesn't look great when customers see our staff with drinks in their hands they aren't going to walk out over it as long as the level of service provided is good. Its my head office who are trying to implement this policy only allowing staff to have drinks on their breaks.

Breaks being the basic 20 mins

sorry, didn't finish editing, but you get my point I think

I'm not sure if there is a specific law Graham, but wonder whether a RA might be necessary?

I presume that as its a leisure centre you are talking about workers that are required to exert themselves, such as instructors.

Could you limit it to bottled water? Is this facility promoting fitness? such as a Gym? If it is then the regular consumption of water is beneficial, and your staff should be seen to be drinking regularly as part of that.

You could even come to an arrangement with a supplier to provide a quantity of free branded bottled water for all the staff to be seen drinking, which could promote the sales of that product.

In my opinion water should be available for any worker to drink at any time they feel the need, it's a basic human right, surely?

I am curious as to weather or not staff have to be given access to soft drinks throughout the duration of there shift?

or as an employer can we restrict access to soft drinks i.e. during the staffs designated breaks.

I am asking this as I work in a leisure facility were our head office wants us to inforce the above. The feeling is that staff having drinks on the shop floor looks bad in front of customers.

can anyone direct me to a specific law to answer my question please.

Welcome Gavin & Miriam, I am sure the posts above shouuld provide sufficient info to answer your question as the legislation was designed to prevent or mitigate the occupational health risks associated with sweat shops and slave labour where dehydration and fatigue significantly increases the risk of error, harm and severity of potential injury.

Neither organisation sounds very nice to work for but I know needs must at anytime let alone a recession so I really hope you are able to get together with your workplace associates and negotiate a "reasonable & practicable" solution to the Dickensian working conditions.

Good luck

Firstly, your staff are entitled by law to a minimum 20 minute break, to be taken within the first 6 hours after arriving at work.
Secondly, if they are unable to obtain hot food within a reasonable distance of the workplace during the hours they work they are entitled to having the means to heat their own food. (Workplace (Health Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992).
Thirdly, weekly rest. An adult worker has the right to either an uninterrupted 24 hours clear of work each week, or an uninterrupted 48 hours clear each fortnight.
Lastly, if you have any workers under 18 they can't usually be made to work more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. These hours cannot be averaged over a longer period and you're not allowed to ignore these restrictions. Young workers must take two days off each week. This cannot be averaged over a two-week period (meaning they can't work an extra day one week and take more days off the following one) These two days' rest should also be taken together with no working in between them.

A good source of information about employment rights (theirs) and responsibilities (yours) can be found at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/index.htm.

Our staff work in a showroom 7 hours a day with no official lunch break, are we obliged to provide e.g. microwave to heat or cook food? Thank you

We are looking to put a sandwich/panini press in our office kitchen. What implications could there be by doing this and what safety processes should we go through before we get one?

There are requirements in H&S legislation relating to work place provision which state you must supply drinking water from a suitably marked tap and rest facilities including provision for the eating of food which would otherwise be contaminated.

The HSE publish a guidance INDG293 regarding welfare provision at work.

Hope this helps

I am not a lawyer but I don't think there is legislation which really applies to this question. There is legislation under Health & Safety that dictates minimum 'rest' periods etc. but this does not go on to stipulate whether these rests have to include tea, coffee, water or even food breaks. You don't have to provide hot drinks and I very much doubt this is a legislative requirement of any sort. Having said that I think you would be obliged to at the very least provide water.

So in answer to your question no there are very few guidelines and it is a question of how you chose to practice. I would argue however, that staff should have access to hot and cold drinks and somewhere to consume them as well as the opportunity to either bring in or buy some food. Of course, if you provide either a canteen or cooking facilities you are in a totally new area and food hygiene related legislation applies relating to food handling, storage etc.

I hope this is helpful, perhaps not terribly but as there aren?t any fixed rules to help you I'm afraid. Most companies, I suppose inevitably provide more than they absolutely have to in order to try and keep employees happy and cater for breaks to an extent; it is a question of the cost of such services and how best to set these up.

Mark Hobbs
Kendrick Hobbs