No Drinking Water Available At University!!! IS IT LEGAL?

pin

Not a nice position for your daughter to be in. However, while it may be a legal requirement to provide drinking water in places of work, that would only extend to employees. Students are not employees at education establishments, they are students.

However maybe an idea your daughter having a work with the student union and see what they say about it.

StudentSaver_2

I agree with some of the others in this post....bring it up with the Union. My Union has a welfare officer, maybe your daughter's uni is the same? If she makes a big enough deal out of it, I'm sure things might start to change. Has she roped in the student newspaper? They're more influential than most people think!

jimmymac87

If they sell alcohol, which many student guilds do - i was fairly sure it is a legal requirement to supply free tap water; worth looking into

moneyandmountains

jimmymac87 wrote:

If they sell alcohol, which many student guilds do - i was fairly sure it is a legal requirement to supply free tap water; worth looking into

Yes it is.

Also, for some HSE issues, students may class as employees.

pin

Slightly OT, but an interesting article in the Times about the cost of drinking bottled water to the enviornment:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2045700,00.html

mrchip_2

Not everything in life is a legal requirement but "in the case of employment" the employer is legally required to provide The drinking water and ensure that:

*it is free from contamination and is preferably from the public water supply - bottled water dispensers are acceptable as a secondary supply;
*it is easily accessible by all employees;
*there are adequate supplies taking into consideration the temperature of the working environment and types of work activity;
*cups or a drinking fountain are provided;
*taps and containers are clearly and correctly labelled as drinking water.
url]http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg293.htm#2[/url

This is also backed up by the teachers unions own set of provisions.
"The provision of an adequate and accessible supply of wholesome drinking water, which should be conspicuously labelled...etc"
url]http://www.teachersunion.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=71676[/url

Schools ARE legally required to provide tap water; unfortunatly you'll be hard pressed to find a court in the land that would class a university as a school.

23 The FSA-DfES report: "School Meals in Secondary Schools in England" included the recommendation that
"National Nutritional Standards for school food must be compulsory and based on a combination of food-based
and nutrient based guidelines". It was also critical of school catering contracts stating that " the Caroline Walker should take account of DfES’s “Guidance for School Caterers” 25 and the “Healthy Living
Blueprint for Schools” 26. Drinking water should be provided for pupils."
-url]http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/pdf/psfpi.pdf[/url


"All pupils should have access to drinking water
at all times at a number of points around the
school, preferably not from taps in the toilets.
Pupils should be permitted to carry water with
them and consumption encouraged both in
class and during break and lunch time.
Healthy Living Blue Print for Schools"
url]http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/0781-2004.pdf[/url


If the place she goes to eat serves alcohol (which if shes lucky like me it does)
Under the Licencing Act 2003/5, clubs are required to provide drinking water free of charge.

Coming from my experience her best port of call is to contact her student union and even their Student union news paper both of which can pressure the university into either fixing the water fountain or making the cafe provide the water.

Unfortunatly your daughter is now an adult and as one is expected to be able to leave the building and get her own water.
Even McDonalds will provide tap water (even though its usualy tainted with an orange flavour) at no charge.


Hope that is of some help to you.