Facilities team will want to keep temp >50 C to control legionella proliferation. Provided the workforce are grown up and literate, a bit of signage and provision of plugs to enable H&C to be mixed in the sink is adequate. If you've vulnerable groups or public then TMVs are preferred.

Sorry, but I am going to disagree with the previous postings. Skin should always be washed (or at least rinsed) in running water at a temperature not exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. Using the plug in the washbasin can result in skin being rinsed in water contaminated with the skin cleanser and traces of the very chemicals/bacteria that the worker needs to remove. As the skin cleanser will have temporarily reduced the skin's barrier properties this will increase the potential for the residue to cause skin problems (or in certain environments infection). Anything in excess of 40 degrees Celsius will cause temporary damage to the skin's barrier properties for up to two hours and could make the user more vulnerable to either skin damage or systemic damage due to increased uptake of chemicals. It can take the skin an hour or more to recover normal barrier function. I appreciate the need for the temperature in the system to be higher. In a short experiment that was carried out in Sweden some time ago we asked occupational physicians to set the temperature of the water to less than 40 degrees C. Most set the temperature considerably higher. So relying upon the user to set the correct temperature does not ensure that this will be correct.This is why the best practical solution in a workplace environment is a single tap fed by a preset thermostatic mixer valve located as close as possible to the tap. The tap can then be infra-red operated to save water (particularly the hot water) as is often found in continental motorway service areas! Chris

Chris, whilst there are skin temerature limiting aspects shown by research, in practice, this is not practicable in some cases. A solution would be to install thermostatic control hot & cold water taps. An extract from the HSE "guidance" for care homes, for example states, for the risk of scalding:- "Health and social care settings have increased water temperatures for a number of reasons including the need to satisfy hot water demand, efficient running of the boiler and controlling the risk from Legionella bacteria. High water temperatures (particularly temperatures over 44°C) can create a scalding risk to vulnerable people who use care services" More info at:- http://www.hse.gov.uk/he...ces/scalding-burning.htm

Or just a mixer tap. No absolute need for TMV if no vulnerable groups. Some of these modern taps and basin designs are a bit useless though. Both the basin and the tap should allow easy access where your people need a proper forearm wash-up before lunch/ finish time etc.