Posted By MS What would you class as "readily accessible and suitable places" for drinking water in accordance with CDM 2007 on a construction site. Looking at distance and time to get there, I believe (especially with hot weather) that if you have to walk more than 2 minutes to the drinking water it is too far away. Your views?

Posted By Sean Warburton I wouldn't have thought 2 mins was unreasonable, it's impossible for any of us to say really, it's all down to risk assessment there's no actual definition of distance. If people are complaining it's too far, it probably is, likewise if you yourself feel it's too far i wouldn't argue with you as you've seen the site. Not much help then was i :)

Posted By patrick carr Hi With all due respect, i have been on construction sites for over 30 years,the majority of construction workers that i know (especially if on productivity bonus),during hot weather, take all sorts of containers onto the scaffolds with them filled with water. At break times these are then replenished, by themselves, however if they need more water when on-site, normal practice is for 1 person to fill several other workmates containers. 30 years ago welfare facilities were almost zero, i remember having to get water from either a stand pipe, or the gaffer (site manager now) would bring it from home in a 5 gallon container.I have never heard a construction worker complain about the distance of drinking water, but i have heard them complain when the 5 gallon container ran out. best regards paddy

Posted By Crim Drinking water should be available either in the welfare cabin or in bottles at the location of work. (or both). What is this - the dark ages? Surely it makes sense not to have site operatives traveling off site to obtain a drink! I agree that the same welfare standards should apply whether back at the office or out on site.