Drinking water at work.

[ilovepixie]

Hi would anyone know the legality of drinking water at work. I work in a supermarket Deli counter where we cook hot food so it can get pretty hot!
We are only allowed a drink in the staff room on an official break. Does anyone know if this is legal please.

That sounds like a breach of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Your employer is required to provide an adequate supply of drinking water that is readily accessible.

I used to work the same job and we were always allowed a bottle of water or a drink with us, it just had to be kept out of sight of customers.

I'm not sure if they have to allow you a bottle of water though - they'll argue it's accessible and available in the canteen for free if you want a drink.

I didn't think you were allowed to eat or drink while handling other people's food.

That's a hygiene issue. I work in a laboratory and we are not allowed food or drink with us, only on our breaks in the staff room. It's fine, you get used to it.

Only if you can't wash your hands before handling the food.

All supermarket kitchens have numerous hand washing sinks with soap and hot water. It's not a hygiene problem in the slightest.

Laboratories are different as they're supposed to be sterile.

It's really not a hygiene issue to have a bottle of water with you while working in a red hot kitchen all day!

It's to do with cross contamination.

A lab is different. Speak to your union @ilovepixie and if you are not in one, join!

My friend works in a supermarket on a fresh food counter & they're not allowed drinks either. Not previously when she worked at another large supermarket chain.

don't know the legalities, only that it's common not to be allowed.

If it was to do with cross-contamination then it would be illegal. Which it isn't.

It's not illegal to work with food and also have access to water!

It isn't illegal. It depends on your company's approach to open food handling. Some companies apply stronger parameters than others. Check your handbook / open food handling mandatory training. If there is nothing in there, contact your head office / head of Compliance or equivalent. If they can't help, it's likely a local management decision taken due to either a failure of an environmental health visit, or a lack of understanding of open food rules which an over zealous manager has put into place.

Hospital catering here, we are not allowed to eat or drink in the kitchen we have to go out of the area

For clarity, insisting employees go to the staff room to drink is not a problem. Limiting drinks to official breaks, however, may be an issue.

Yeah that's the problem. I can understand not being allowed to drink in food preparation areas or in view of customers, but it's when we can't go get a drink unless we're on an official break.

I don't think that's appropriate OP.

It's bloody hot in those kitchens when you're working in cheap polyester uniforms with those huge industrial sized opens on full blast. I got really hot working those shifts, especially in summer. If I hadn't had water (or easy access to it) I'd have felt pretty unwell some days.

Have you spoken to your manager about the possibility of being able to go and grab a drink mid-shift if you're in the kitchen?

Yes he says we're not allowed to leave the kitchen unless on a break as it will leave it short staffed.

I used to work on the hot chicken counters in Tesco. We were allowed to bring a water bottle to put into the fridge but had to be out of sight from customers.