Step 6: Provide facilities

You must provide a safe and healthy environment for all your employees. You also need to take account of their welfare needs. This includes people with disabilities.

For example, you must provide toilets, washing facilities and drinking water, and you need to think about factors in the working environment like lighting and temperature.

Does this affect my business?

There are legal requirements which apply to most workplaces: The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Some workplaces, such as construction worksites, are covered by separate HSE legislation.

If in doubt, please contact HSE Infoline on 0845 345 0055.

What employers need to do

This section provides a brief outline of the requirements. You can find out more in HSE's free leaflet INDG 244 Workplace, health, safety and welfare – A short guide for managers [175KB].

Welfare facilities
Health issues
Safety issues

Welfare facilities

Toilets, wash-hand basins, shower and washing facilities

You must provide:

clean well-ventilated toilets (separate for men and women unless each convenience has its own lockable door);
wash basins with hot and cold (or warm) running water;
showers for dirty work which may result in contamination of the skin;
soap and towels (or a hand drier).

Drinking water

You must supply high-quality drinking water, with and upward drinking jet or suitable cups. Drinking water does not have to be marked unless there is a significant risk of people drinking non-drinking water.

Accommodation for clothing and changing facilities

You must provide lockers or hanging space for clothing and changing facilities where workers wear special clothing. The facilities should allow for drying clothes.

Facilities to rest and eat meals

You must provide places to eat, and rest facilities if you have pregnant women and nursing mothers on your staff.

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Health issues

Ventilation

There must be good ventilation:

A supply of fresh, clean air drawn from outside or ventilation systems. It must be uncontaminated and circulated throughout the workplace.
Ventilation should also remove and dilute warm air and create air movement without draughts.

Temperature

In indoor workplaces, you must provide:

a reasonable working temperature; usually at least 16°C, or 13°C for strenuous work (unless other laws require lower temperatures);
local heating or cooling where a comfortable temperature cannot be maintained throughout each workroom, for example, hot and cold processes;
thermal clothing and rest facilities where necessary, for example for ‘hot work' or cold stores;
heating systems which do not give off dangerous or offensive levels of fume into the workplace;
sufficient space in workrooms.

Lighting

You must provide:

good light; use natural light where possible, but try to avoid glare;
a good level of local lighting at workstations where necessary;
suitable forms of lighting. Some fluorescent tubes flicker and can be dangerous with some rotating machinery (because the rotating part can appear to have stopped).

Cleanliness and waste materials

You must:

provide clean premises, furniture and fittings such as lights;
provide clean floors and stairs, which are not slippery;
provide containers for waste materials;
remove dirt, refuse and trade waste regularly;
clear up spillages promptly;
keep internal walls and ceilings clean.

Room dimensions and space

Workrooms should have enough free space to move about easily. For guidance on room dimensions refer to leaflet INDG244:

Workplace health, safety and welfare: A short guide for managers [175KB]

Workstations and seating

Workstations must fit the worker and the work and people should be able to leave them swiftly in an emergency. Make sure that:

seat back rests support the small of the back and you must provide foot rests if necessary;
work surfaces are at a sensible height;
there is easy access to controls on equipment.

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Safety issues

Maintenance of the workplace and work equipment

You must have:

buildings and work equipment kept in good repair;
space for safe movement and access, for example to machinery;
safe glazing, if necessary, for example painted, toughened or thick, which is marked to make it easy to see;
good drainage in wet processes;
weather protection for outdoor workplaces, if practical;
outdoor routes kept safe during icy conditions, for example salted/sanded and swept.

See HSE's webpages on work equipment and machinery

Floors and traffic routes

You must have:

floors, corridors and stairs free of obstructions, for example trailing cables;
surfaces that are not slippery;
well-lit outside areas - this will also help security;
safe passages for pedestrians and vehicles - the best approach is to keep vehicles and pedestrians apart using separate routes;
level, even surfaces without holes or broken boards;
hand-rails on stairs and ramps where necessary;
safe doors, for example vision panels in swing doors, and safety devices on power doors.

Transparent and translucent doors, gates, walls and windows

Windows, transparent or translucent surfaces in walls, partitions, doors and gates should, where necessary to protect health and safety, be made of safety material or protected against breakage. You must mark these surfaces clearly if there is a danger that people might collide with them.

Windows and safe cleaning

You must have windows that can be cleaned safely.
Openable windows should open safely so that people cannot fall out or bump into them.

See our advice on safe window cleaning

Escalators and moving walkways

Escalators and moving walkways should work safely, be equipped with any necessary safety devices and fitted with one or more emergency stop controls which are easily identifiable and accessible.

Free leaflets

HSE Books

Workplace health, safety and welfare: Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Approved Code of Practice and Guidance on Regulations
ISBN 978 0 7176 0413 5
Thermal comfort in the workplace: guidance for employers
ISBN 978 0 7176 2468 3

Go to Step 7. Train your workforce