Rest, welfare facilities

The environment of a workplace must be such that it does not put the health of the workpeople at risk. Sections 1 to 7 of FA 61 lay down the requirements to be met within the workplace and cover such conditions as keeping the workplace clean, properly decorated, ventilated, well lit, suitably heated and that adequate welfare facilities such as first aid, toilets, washrooms, changing and rest rooms are provided. 

Regulation 22 sets out the requirements for the provision of welfare facilities. The duty to comply with the Regulation rests on the person in control of the site, who must comply so far as is reasonably practicable. No numbers of toilets and washbasins are prescribed - suitable and sufficient will be the numbers determined by the risk assessment made by the person in control. 

The Owner of a facility is the individual or company ultimately responsible forthe safety and welfare ofthe employees and publie using the faeility. Thus, the ultimate burden ofcomplying with the intent of all codes rests with the building owner. 

For Tanzania, the domestic market size for medicines was estimated at around US 250 million in 2011-12. Of this market, public wholesaler (MSD) sales were aroimd 50% (US 125 million), of which 70% in turn were donor-funded vertical programme sales (MSD, 2013). That leaves just US 37.2 million as government-funded MSD procurement, or 15% of the total market. However, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has estimated that only aroimd 30% of the pooled public funds held by public health facilities in accounts at MSD for medicines and medical supplies were locally tax funded, equating to around US 11.3 million, the rest coming from donor basket funds (MoHSW, 2013 4-5). The implication is that just 5% of Tanzanian medicines were tax-funded in 2011-12. 

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