Quick answer
Provide suitable and sufficient welfare facilities for the people and work: toilets and washing, drinking water, rest/eating space and appropriate clothing or changing arrangements. Check access and upkeep throughout working hours, including different shifts and individual needs.
Why provision includes access and upkeep
A suitable facility is of little use if it is locked, dirty, out of supplies or unavailable on the late shift. HSE’s workplace-facility guidance identifies the basic welfare provision expected in GB workplaces.
Assess actual use, the nature of the work and the people who need the facilities. Do not assume a customer toilet, shared room or another occupier’s facilities meet the staff requirements without checking the arrangement.
Check each facility against the users and work
| Facility | Provision question | Upkeep question |
|---|---|---|
| Toilets and washing | Are numbers, type, privacy and accessibility suitable? | Who cleans, supplies and responds to defects? |
| Drinking water | Is a suitable supply readily accessible? | How is the supply and any dispenser maintained? |
| Rest and eating | Is there suitable clean space and seating? | Can it remain usable during the actual break pattern? |
| Clothing and changing | What storage or changing arrangements does the work require? | Are work and personal items managed appropriately? |
| Individual requirements | Are accessibility and relevant pregnancy or nursing needs addressed? | How are changes or difficulties raised and resolved? |
Use the applicable requirements for the detailed provision
HSE’s welfare guide helps determine appropriate arrangements. Use the relevant tables and conditions for the workforce rather than guessing a universal toilet ratio.
Check the work environment and any more specific rules applying to the activities. This guide does not set a facility-allocation policy for every possible situation. Obtain appropriate advice where the layout, workforce or legal requirements need specialist consideration.
For NI, HSENI’s welfare guidance identifies suitable and sufficient facilities under the separate NI framework.
Make shared and shift arrangements reliable
If facilities are shared, agree who provides, cleans, maintains and replenishes them, how staff gain access and who deals with a failure. Check that any landlord or other occupier’s timetable matches your business’s working hours.
Tell workers how to report a problem and provide a suitable response when a facility is unavailable. An unresolved plumbing or access issue belongs in the management action process.
Example: check welfare after the main office closes
A food business extends evening working, but the agreed rest room and washing facilities are inside an area locked after office hours. The manager checks the actual late-shift needs and arranges suitable access or alternative provision before relying on the daytime arrangement.
The check records the responsible person, cleaning and supply arrangements and what workers should do if access fails.
Common gaps
- Facilities available only to one shift.
- No replenishment or defect owner.
- Numbers based on an old staffing pattern.
- Individual access needs left outside the assessment.
Next steps
Walk the welfare arrangements during a real shift and break period. Compare provision with the official requirements, assign upkeep and defect responsibilities and close any access gaps.
Check HSE’s welfare provision guide — Detailed numbers and facility conditions should come from the applicable official guidance and actual workforce assessment.