Health, Welfare & Work Environment Requirements At Workplace

In order to maintain a safe and healthy work environment, many businesses have health, welfare, and work environment requirements in the workplace. This includes having policies in place that protect employees from potential harm while on the job. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the most important health, welfare, and work environment requirements in the workplace.

The HSE has been concerned about the poor standard of welfare facilities on many construction sites. Welfare arrangements include the provision of sanitary conveniences and washing facilities, drinking water, accommodation for clothing, facilities for changing clothes, and facilities for rest and eating meals. However, the scale of the first-aid provision will be related to the size and complexity of the project, the number of workers on-site at any given time, and the proximity of emergency hospital facilities.

Sanitary and washing facilities (including showers if necessary) with an adequate drinking water supply should be provided for everybody working on the site. Accommodation will be required to change and store clothes and rest facilities for break times. There should be adequate first-aid provision (an accident book) and protective clothing against adverse weather conditions.

Detailed guidance is also available in HSG 150 Health and Safety in Construction. Sanitary conveniences and washing facilities must be provided together and in proportion to the size of the workforce.

The Approved Code of Practice of the Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations provides two tables offering guidance on the requisite number of water closets, wash stations, and urinals for varying workforce sizes (approximately one of each for every 25 employees). Special provisions should be made for disabled workers, and there should generally be separate facilities for men and women. There should be adequate protection from the weather, and only as a last resort should public conveniences be used. A good supply of warm water, soap, and towels must be provided as close to the sanitary facilities as possible. Hand dryers are permitted, but there are concerns about their effectiveness in drying hands completely and thus removing all bacteria. In the case of temporary or remote worksites, sufficient chemical closets and sufficient washing water in containers must be provided.

People are most often involved in accidents as they walk around the workplace or when they come into contact with vehicles in or around the workplace. Therefore, it is important to understand the various common causes of accidents and the control strategies that can be employed to reduce them. Slips, trips, and falls account for most accidents in the workplace. However, the workplace may be a construction site where working at height or excavating work will present health and safety risks. Health hazards and risks are also present in some workplaces due to violence and substance abuse. An effective management system can significantly reduce many of the risks associated with these hazards. Finally, welfare and work environment requirements ensure a healthy and safe workplace. This is where this chapter begins.

Welfare and work environment issues are covered by the Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations, an Approved Code of Practice, and additional guidance. Welfare arrangements include the provision of sanitary conveniences and washing facilities, drinking water, accommodation for clothing, facilities for changing clothes, and facilities for rest and eating meals.

Sanitary Conveniences

Suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences shall be provided or made available at readily accessible places. So far as is reasonably practicable, rooms containing sanitary conveniences shall be adequately ventilated and lit. So far as is reasonably practicable, sanitary conveniences and the rooms containing them shall be kept clean and orderly.

Separate rooms containing sanitary conveniences shall be provided for men and women, except where and so far as each convenience is in a separate room, the door of which can be secured from the inside.

Washing Facilities

Sanitary conveniences and washing facilities must be provided together and in proportion to the size of the workforce. The Approved Code of Practice provides two tables offering guidance on the requisite number of water closets, wash stations, and urinals for varying workforce sizes (approximately one of each for every 25 employees). Special provisions should be made for disabled workers, and there should normally be separate facilities for men and women. A single convenience would only be acceptable if it were situated in a separate room whose door could be locked from the inside. There should be adequate protection from the weather, and only as a last resort should public conveniences be used. A good supply of warm water, soap, and towels must be provided as close to the sanitary facilities as possible.

The facilities should be well lit and ventilated and their walls and floors easy to clean. It may be necessary to install a shower for certain types of work. Hand dryers are permitted, but there are concerns about their effectiveness in drying hands completely and thus removing all bacteria. In the case of temporary or remote worksites, sufficient chemical closets and sufficient washing water in containers must be provided. All such facilities should be well ventilated and lit and cleaned regularly.

Suitable and sufficient washing facilities, including showers if required by the nature of the work or for health reasons, shall sharp be provided or made available at readily accessible places.

Washing facilities shall be provided:

• Near every sanitary convenience, whether or not provided elsewhere;
• In the vicinity of any changing rooms.

Washing facilities shall include:

• A supply of clean hot and cold, or warm, water (which shall be running water);
• Soap or other suitable means of cleaning;
• Towels or other suitable means of drying.

Rooms containing washing facilities shall be sufficiently ventilated and lit. Washing facilities and the rooms containing them shall be kept clean and orderly.

Separate washing facilities shall be provided for men and women, except where and so far as they are provided in a room the door of which is capable of being secured from inside, and the facilities in each such room are intended to be used by only one person at a time.

Drinking-Water

Drinking water must be readily accessible to the entire workforce. The supply of drinking water must be adequate and wholesome. Normally mains water is provided and should be marked as ‘drinking water’ if water unfit for drinking is also available.

An adequate supply of wholesome drinking water shall be provided or made available at readily accessible and suitable places.

Every drinking water supply shall be conspicuously marked by an appropriate sign were necessary for health and safety reasons. Where a supply of drinking water is provided, a sufficient number of suitable cups or other drinking vessels shall also be provided unless the supply of drinking water is in a jet from which persons can drink easily.

Changing Rooms and Lockers

Suitable and sufficient changing rooms shall be provided or made available at readily accessible places if:

• A worker has to wear special clothing for the purposes of their work;
• They cannot, for reasons of health or propriety, be expected to change elsewhere, being separate rooms for, or separate use of rooms by, men and women where necessary for reasons of propriety.

Changing rooms shall:

• Be provided with seating;
• Include, where necessary, facilities to enable a person to dry any such special clothing and their own clothing and personal effects.

Suitable and sufficient facilities shall, where necessary, be provided or made available at readily accessible places to enable persons to lock away:

• Any such special clothing which is not taken home;
• Their own clothing which is not worn during working hours;
• Their personal effects.

Facilities for Rest

Suitable and sufficient restrooms or rest areas shall be provided or made available at readily accessible places.

Restrooms and rest areas shall:

• Include suitable arrangements to protect non-smokers from discomfort caused by tobacco smoke;
• Be equipped with an adequate number of tables and adequate seating with backs for the number of persons at work likely to use them at any one time;
• Where necessary, include suitable facilities for any person at work who is a pregnant woman or nursing mother to rest lying down;
• Include suitable arrangements to ensure that meals can be prepared and eaten;
• Include the means for boiling water;
• Be maintained at an appropriate temperature.