Canteen facillities

[eastie]

Our canteen at work has a hot water heater and a maxpax coffee machine nothing else apart from a broken microwave so no facilities for hot food.
Should RM be giving us facilities for making hot food for meal relief because our office is out of town with nowhere to buy anything hot

[dave72]

We have a sink and a kettle in the kitchen area The bathroom is bigger than the kitchen

We have to have out break sat at our fitting or in the garden

[wacko74]

You've got a garden?!!

[houseoflords]

We have a water heater, 2 microwaves (1 broke and another was brought in by a member of staff), 1x coffee machine, 1x chocolate/crisp machine (Royal Mail encourages healthy eating) and a pop machine and 1x table with 4 seats, what does Queen Moya have?

[doorstepped]

Tap with lashings and lashings of council pop
Microwave,
Kettle.
Pop Machine ( which has had nothing in for 6 years but they can't remove it because they have to take out the door frame to get it out )
coffee machine ( I use this term loosely )

[yellowbelly]

Ladies and Gents,

HASW 1974 Section 2 (2) states:

employers must ensure

the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992 ... on/25/made" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
para 25 states:

Facilities for rest and to eat meals

25.—(1) Suitable and sufficient rest facilities shall be provided at readily accessible places.

(2) Rest facilities provided by virtue of paragraph (1) shall—

(a)where necessary for reasons of health or safety include, in the case of a new workplace, an extension or a conversion, rest facilities provided in one or more rest rooms, or, in other cases, in rest rooms or rest areas;

(b)include suitable facilities to eat meals where food eaten in the workplace would otherwise be likely to become contaminated.

(3) Rest rooms and rest areas shall include suitable arrangements to protect non-smokers from discomfort caused by tobacco smoke.

(4) Suitable facilities shall be provided for any person at work who is a pregnant woman or nursing mother to rest.

(5) Suitable and sufficient facilities shall be provided for persons at work to eat meals where meals are regularly eaten in the workplace.

The above are laws ie must be complied with. It is only when you dig into the weeds of H & S guidance that provision for heating of food is mentioned:

H & S - Welfare at work - Guidance for employers on welfare provisions: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg293.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Although the guidance has no formal legal standing an employer would need to show some serious justification in the eyes
of the law NOT to provide said facilities. ie getting a new Microwave from Argos for 50 quid is not unreasonable.

There should be a suitable seating area for workers to use during breaks it needs
to be clean and located where food will not get contaminated.

There should be washing facilities nearby, and a means of heating food or water for
hot drinks. You must maintain good hygiene standards.

Suggest getting your Union and H&S reps onto it - in the real world world that's probably easier said than done
but if you've got the info to back up your argument......

YB

[dave72]

You've got a garden?!!

Yes, with table and chairs It had a pond but that was filled in :( Our office is built at the back of a Post Office in their garden, we have a little section at the side of the office

[Creditshampoo]

We have a full canteen which serves hot food very cheap