Whether you’re a school, office, warehouse, nursery or any other organisation that has employees, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) have laws applicable in the UK that you must abide by when it comes to provisions in your washrooms.
Of course one of the important regulations is to ensure your facilities are clean. The HSE says that you should provide ‘clean facilities – preferably with walls and floors tiled (or covered in suitable waterproof material) to make them easier to clean’.
Whilst you think your washroom may be clean because it looks and smells pristine, bacteria is invisible and is not in places you’d initially expect. Read about how much bacteria is really in your washroom…
You should also ensure that your washrooms are well lit and ventilated.
You should provide both hot and cold running water in your washrooms to allow the proper washing of hands.
It’s also important to note that, by law, you must also provide your employees with drinking water – and ‘ensure it is free from contamination, easily accessible and preferably from the public water supply.‘
According to the HSE, you should always have the following supplies on offer in your washrooms:
Of course, as an employer, you should provide toilets in your premises. But how many are you legally obliged to have? Below you’ll see information directly from the HSE that shows you, depending on the employees you have, what you need:
As well as the correct number of basins, the HSE says that you must have ‘basins large enough to wash hands and forearms if necessary’.
After reading this, you may have realised you need to improve what you offer in your washrooms. Or maybe you need someone to manage your washroom supplies? If that’s the case, please talk to our team. We’re based in the Midlands and service clients across the UK in areas such as Birmingham, Coventry, Oxford, Warwickshire, Leicester, Northampton and Nottingham, as well as further afield between London and Manchester.
Being washroom experts for over 10 years, we have the innovative products, reliable services and team knowledge to take care of your washrooms. Learn more about our services.
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