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Posted By David P Scott
Can anyone tell me if we had a legal obligation to provide Kitchen Facilities.
Our site has a canteen which is not yet open (until the number of personnel increase to a higher level currently about 400). There is a large seating area with free drinks machines and sandwich machines for everyone to use and each of the 3 floors also have free drinks machines.
Do we need to provide means of heating food and boiling water.
thanks
David
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Posted By MT
Have a look at Reg 25 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations. Item 232 of the ACoP states that "Eating facilities should include a facility for preparing or obtaining a hot drink, such as an electric kettle, a vending machine or canteen. Workers who work during hours or at places where hot food cannot be obtained in, or reasonably near to, the workplace should be provided with the means for heating their own food."
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Posted By Robert K Lewis
David
My personal view is that as long as drinks remain free then the provision of a kettle is not necessary. However if your company starts to charge then it should provide a kettle such that each employee may make their own. Refrigerators then enter into the equation along with washing up facilities.
With regard to the food I think that the need for provision cannot be avoided. It would be wrong to insist that only sandwiches are eaten or hot food purchased via your machines or canteen ( when it arrives). Actually I am surprised that your costings regard 400 as not viable. Construction site canteens run with far lower numbers and make a profit.
Bob
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Posted By Granville Jenkins
This subject is a bit of a 'bone of contention' with me, but I am not going to get personal and will point the reader to Regulation 25 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
Reg 25(1) states that "Suitable and sufficient rest facilities 'shall be' provided at readily accessible places."
Reg 25(5) also states "Suitable and sufficient facilities 'shall be' provided for persons to eat meals where meals are regularly eaten in the workplace." which I would interpret to mean that facilities need to be provided for heating/reheating food and I would include beverages in this class.
The fact that the Regulations specifically mention 'facilities for..' would tend to differentiate rest and eating facilities from the workstation/desk and therefore people who eat at their workstation/desk on a regular basis are actually in breach of these statutory regulations!
The word to focus on is 'shall' this is an absolute term, no if's, but's or should!
Regards
Granville
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Posted By Gff
"Reg 25(5) also states "Suitable and sufficient FACILITES 'shall be' PROVIDED for persons TO EAT MEALS where meals are regularly eaten in the workplace."
the word there is eat not HEAT. Where in the regs is there an explicit absolute duty to provide facilities to heat meals. I can find it.
The guidance suggests that where hot food cannot be obtained nearby then facilities SHOULD be provided (eg microware oven). That to me is pretty clear and not really open to interpretation.
The first response is straight out the guidance I would go with that
G'
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