Rank: Forum user
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How far is it reasonable to travel for drinking water? A site with 3/4 portacabin offices approximately 5/10 minutes walking distance apart, only has drinking water in one office. Installing facilities in the other 2 cabins would be expensive and large bottles water fountains present their own problems. Do I have to provide water in every location?
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Rank: Super forum user
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If the cabins are welfare or contain welfare I would say yes, but if they are just offices I would say no. 10 minutes is pushing it! However providing bottle water fountains is not expensive in the great scheme of things and what you save in not providing it will be small compared to the lost time walking back and for. You cannot stop employees accessing it and I also suspect it will affect morale.
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Rank: Super forum user
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If it is not practical to have drinking water immediately adjacent to the work site then you could provide drinking vessels, bottles, cups, or whatever at the site. HSE guidance states that drinking water should be 'readily available'. A 10 minute walk on a hot day is not really readily available in my opinion. The bonus is better productivity by providing immediately available drinking water. HSE guidance below.
A supply of wholesome drinking water should be readily available. Where possible, it should be supplied direct from the mains. If water is stored, protect it from possible contamination and make sure it is changed often enough to prevent it from becoming stale or contaminated. Where necessary, clearly mark the drinking water supply to prevent it being confused with hazardous liquids or water which is not fit to drink. Provide cups or other drinking vessels at the outlet, unless the water is supplied in an upward jet, which can be drunk easily (eg a drinking fountain).
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Rank: Super forum user
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It's relatively simple to design and action a simple questionnaire to consult relevant employees on the options profiled by Ray, as well as other ones.
To check the need, as perceived by the employees involved, one capitol could be 'No change from present arrangements'.
In that way, you can work from data about the level of concern of employees and their preferences
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Rank: Super forum user
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A job-lot of bottled water from the cash and carry, in one accessible place, with more in store, come help yourself surely = readily available?
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Rank: Super forum user
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I've worked in contaminated buildings where it took longer than 10 minutes to get out of the building, out of the gear and get to drinking water. No eating or drinking was permitted in the 'dirty' zone, or in the changing rooms with clothes or equipment that had been into the dirty zone. The staff (including me) understood the reasons why you couldn't just have drinking water on tap immediately to hand, and everyone was fine with it, so I think the main issue is probably the one about consult employees before assuming that something is needed.
That is, if circumstances genuinely dictate that it's not practical to have drinking water within 10 minutes of the worksite, I believe it can be acceptable.
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Rank: Super forum user
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There will always be exceptions. When working on the railway we have had transient workers some distance from the site welfare facilities. In which case we have provided drinking vesels for them - job done.
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Rank: Super forum user
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I wonder why we have this question, is it because an employer is not being very clever about providing essential water to his employees or it is another reason?
IMO should be provided as close to the point of work as possible even if it is bottles in a shrink wrap pack from a supermarket.
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