Rank: Forum user 
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Good Morning, I have been asked a question by one of our groundworkers. Do we, as an employer, have to provide "drying time" to our employees who have to work in the rain? I have looked at various regulations, guidance docs, etc, but cannot find anything that states we MUST, other than we should ensure they have appropriate wet weather gear (PPE) and arrange for more frequest rest breaks and encourage the workforce to take hot drinks Can anyone point me towards anything that states we must offer drying time to outside workers? Thank you in anticipation ...
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Rank: Super forum user
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I can't be sure, but I would be very surprised if "drying time" was a thing. The HSE is normally quite vague with welfare details, leaving it up to the employer to decide what is suitable and sufficient. Probably one of those "must" vs "should" situations. If your employees are taking excessive time to dry off, that impacts their working hours to a significant amount then you probably should. Especially the case if they are at or close to the minimum wage, as this could count as additional time worked. In saying that I have never heard of anybody having set drying off time. For example if our FLT drivers have got wet they tend to get changed at the end of the day a little earlier, and nothing is said. It is just accepted that it will take longer to get ready to go home.
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 2 users thanked CptBeaky for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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There is a requirement to provide a drying room for wet gear ergo time needs to come from somewhere to allow for changing and likely cleaning. You could argue there is no current specific legislation stating "x" minutes - but many companies did that with regard to travelling to and from site and look at how that has unfolded.
The problems with minute pinching are: 1) It puts the company in a bad light regarding welfare provision - dirty industries typically allow 10 - 15 minutes paid wash up at the end of shift (especially where there are a lot more employees than available wash basins). 2) It could impact the calculated pay rate leading to charges for not paying legal minimums (at least one retail distribution centre fell foul of this by security screening after their employees had clocked out).
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12 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
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A Kurdziel on 12/12/2019(UTC), CptBeaky on 12/12/2019(UTC), Citizengas on 12/12/2019(UTC), chris42 on 12/12/2019(UTC), SJP on 12/12/2019(UTC), Kate on 17/12/2019(UTC), A Kurdziel on 12/12/2019(UTC), CptBeaky on 12/12/2019(UTC), Citizengas on 12/12/2019(UTC), chris42 on 12/12/2019(UTC), SJP on 12/12/2019(UTC), Kate on 17/12/2019(UTC)
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Rank: Super forum user
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There is a requirement to provide a drying room for wet gear ergo time needs to come from somewhere to allow for changing and likely cleaning. You could argue there is no current specific legislation stating "x" minutes - but many companies did that with regard to travelling to and from site and look at how that has unfolded.
The problems with minute pinching are: 1) It puts the company in a bad light regarding welfare provision - dirty industries typically allow 10 - 15 minutes paid wash up at the end of shift (especially where there are a lot more employees than available wash basins). 2) It could impact the calculated pay rate leading to charges for not paying legal minimums (at least one retail distribution centre fell foul of this by security screening after their employees had clocked out).
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12 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
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A Kurdziel on 12/12/2019(UTC), CptBeaky on 12/12/2019(UTC), Citizengas on 12/12/2019(UTC), chris42 on 12/12/2019(UTC), SJP on 12/12/2019(UTC), Kate on 17/12/2019(UTC), A Kurdziel on 12/12/2019(UTC), CptBeaky on 12/12/2019(UTC), Citizengas on 12/12/2019(UTC), chris42 on 12/12/2019(UTC), SJP on 12/12/2019(UTC), Kate on 17/12/2019(UTC)
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