Rest and eating facilities

Regulation 25 states that readily accessible, suitable and sufficient rest facilities must be provided. Where food eaten in the workplace is liable to become contaminated, suitable facilities for eating meals must be included in the rest facilities. Canteens may be used as rest facilities if there is no obligation to buy food. These areas must include suitable rest facilities for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

The ACOP recommends that rest facilities should include sufficient seats and tables. Work seats in offices or other clean environments may be acceptable, provided workers are not subjected to excessive disturbance during rest periods. Eating facilities should include the means of preparing or obtaining a hot drink and, where hot food cannot be readily obtained, the means for workers to heat their own food. The regulations add that “an adequate number of tables and adequate seating with backs” should be provided, and that this seating must be adequate for any disabled persons at work.

During the coronavirus outbreak, the BEIS guidance for factories, plants and warehouses reminds employers that social distancing applies to all parts of a business, not just the place where people spend most of their time, but also entrances and exits, break rooms and canteens and similar settings.

“These are often the most challenging areas to maintain social distancing and workers should be specifically reminded,” it says.