Posted By Mark Evans A Client is thinking of introducing a half hour exclusion rule on getting drinks. Basically staff will be prohibited from getting drinks half an hour before and half an hour after breaks and lunch. Does anyone have any experience of such a system and whether it works i.e. increased productivity ? Also is there any H&S implications I am missing? There is no obvious requirement to drink due to environmental conditions and nature of work and any individuals with medical conditions who might be affected have been considered. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this.

Posted By Mark Evans Paul I would suggest this is open to interpretation, I checked the ACOP L24 and this is not that much more specific. Water is of course available freely from dispensors it is the obligatory extra ten minutes for coffee they wish to stop. Do you have any previous experience of such a system?

Posted By Eric Taylor Mark, Perhaps your client needs a reality check? If they believe this sort of draconian measure is going to gain them any great benefit, I think they are sorely mistaken. The employees will pay them back in spades for introducing such a ludicrous policy. They will likely spend more time debating the matter with staff than they will save in the first 6 months.

Posted By Smiff In a factory situation it might be understandable, I've worked with flow lines in cleanrooms where this is quite normal. But usualy we want flexibility from our workers, and the more rules you impose, the less disposed people are to go the extra 100 yards when it's needed.

Posted By Stuart Nagle Then how about giving staff a water bottle or flask they can fill-up and keep at the workstation, or perhaps in a belt holder. Some water companies supply these free at (for example) county shows where they have stalls and displays! Stuart

Posted By Mark Evans Frank Don't get mislead by the water issue. Water is freely available near the place of work to all employees. It is the 20 minute long line of people waiting to obtain tea or coffee after the buzzer has gone. My advice to the client was to move the tea/coffee vending machines into the canteen and only open the canteen at appropriate times. It also prevents the sneaking a quick sandwich on the shop floor. I am aware that diabetics will be affected by this (need to eat regularly to keep blood sugar up) and special provisions have been made. Hope this helps clarify the situation. Toilet breaks are sensibly unmonitored!!

Posted By Frank Hallett Good morning Mark. Thanks for the clarification; pretty much as I suspected! Has there been any consideration of why the queue grows to such lengths so early? What are the proportions of people to time available? Do employees "stretch the limits" because there is a perception that they simply don't get their break other than in the queue? The previous post also questions these issues and it appears that you may also be considering them from your response. Ultimately, this is going to require a well thought out strategy to ensure that production is maintained and that all employees are able to take finite breaks from the production line. The H&S issues will depend on how it is ultimately decided to manage the solutions to the problem. A major contributor to that solution management will always be the lower level charge-hands and supervisors sensibly applying their disciplinary role to ensure compliance. Frank Hallett