On site
What is site welfare?
Site welfare is the provision of toilets, washing facilities, drinking water, changing areas and a place to rest and eat. It is a legal requirement from the first day of work.
It applies from the start of the project rather than once the site is established, which is why short-duration and mobile work is where it most often falls short.
Facilities have to be usable in practice — reachable, maintained, and available to everyone on site including subcontractors and visitors.
It is frequently the first thing an inspector looks at, on the reasoning that a site that has not provided washing facilities is unlikely to have managed anything harder well.
What goes wrong in practice
- Provision arranged after work started rather than before.
- Facilities present but not maintained, which is the same as not providing them.
- Subcontractors expected to arrange their own.