Welfare facilities

If facilities are shared, whoever provides them (usually the principal contractor) must ensure that they are adequate for the number who have to use them and are kept clean and tidy. The basic facilities to be provided include  

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Aim to protect the health and safety of everyone m the workplace and ensure that adequate welfare facilities are provided. Covers e.g. general ventilation, temperature m indoor workplaces, lighting, cleanliness, space requirements, condition of floors and traffic routes, measures against falls/fallmg objects, washing facilities. 

Provide welfare facilities (e.g. washing facilities for removal of contamination and first aid). 

Ensure the work environment does not put anyone s health at risk. Provide suitable welfare facilities. 

This part is concerned with general safety about the workplace and not with safety in relation to particular processes or machines. It covers access to and egress from as well as movement within the workplace and extends to include welfare facilities. 

Keep the workplace environment safe and healthy so that the atmosphere is such as not to give rise to poisoning, gassing or the encouragement of the development of diseases. Adequate welfare facilities should be provided. 

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. 

Under the Regulations, every contractor or employer has a duty to provide certain health and welfare facilities for his own employees who must have... 

Outlines the basic requirements for hygiene facilities cleanliness of premises condition of floors and gangways provision of warning signs adequate lighting, heating and welfare facilities. 

Working at heights was common and the environment was noisy and hot. There had been a long-term commitment to safety management that predated the Health and Safety at Work Act. Full-time safety advisers and fire officers were employed on the site and welfare facilities included a surgery staffed by an occupational health nurse during the day. First aid cover was provided, in the first instance, by employees trained to Health and Safety Executive standards. The company claimed that approximately 20 per cent of its capital expenditure had been safety-related for many years previously. As part of its strategy of continuous improvement the plant had been accredited to ISO 9000. 

Organizations have been encouraged for many years to employ workers with disabilities and to ensure that their premises provide suitable access for such people. From a health and safety point of view, it is important that workers with a disability are covered by special risk assessments so that appropriate controls are in place to protect them. For example, employees with a hearing problem will need to be warned when the fire alarm sounds or a fork lift truck approaches. Special vibrating signals or flashing lights may be used. Similarly workers in wheelchairs will require a clear, wheelchair friendly, route to a fire exit and onwards to the assembly point. Safe systems of work and welfare facilities need to be suitable for any workers with disabilities. 

Site Details (Parking, Fuel Depot, Equipment Store, Welfare Facilities, Emergency Procedures)... 

When site preparation requires the removal of contaminated topsoil, it is important to ensure that appropriate personal protective equipment, including respirators, is issued to the workforce and that suitable welfare facilities. Including a decontamination unit, are available. A decontamination unit will have a dirty chamber where contaminated clothing can be left, a shower facility and a clean chamber where clean clothes will be kept. Arrangements will also be needed to ensure... 

The location of the welfare facilities on the site is important. They should be located adjacent to each other and as close to the main working area as possible. It is likely that as the work progresses, the welfare facilities... 

HSE have produced two useful information leaflets on the provision of welfare facilities at fixed construction sites (CIS No 18 (revi)) and transient construction sites (CIS No 46). 

Outline the requirements of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 relating to the provision of welfare facilities. 

Eliminate need for entry or use of hazardous materials by selection of alternative methods of work or materials. Assessment of ventilation available and possible local exhaust ventilation requirements, potential presence of hazardous gases/atmosphere, process by-products, need for improved hygiene/welfare facility. Rescue equipment will be available. 

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