Posted By J Knight Interesting point. First of all, the bottles supplied are covered, even sealed, until they are used, and therefore would meet that provision of the ACOP. They are single use and thus dopn't have to be cleaned. As to the rest of the ACOP; well, times have changed, and when the ACOP was written the idea of providing ready chilled mineral water at work was somebody's pipe dream (excuse pun). However, the fact that technology makes a provision obsolete doesn't mean that the law can be ignored. The question is, 'what is the purpose of the Regulation?' The purpose is to provide wholesome, fresh drinking water on demand. The ACOP explains, authoritatively, how this can be achieved; however, you do not have to follow an ACOP provided you can demonstrate that you meet the requirements of the law in another way. Bottled chilled drinking water meets the requirements of the Regulation (is actually better than tap water 'cos its cold) so you don't have to adhere rigidly to the ACOP, John

Posted By John Webster The HSE Free publication, downloadable from the Internet, "Workplace Health Safety & Welfare, a Short Guide for Managers" clarifies the interpretation of this very point. It states "The containers should be refilled daily - unless they are chilled water dispensers where the containers are returned to the supplier for refilling" Nuff said? John