Facilities for making hot drinks in offices...

paddedjohn

KiKi wrote: »

I'm doing some contract work at the moment and not only do we have really lovely machines that provide filter coffee, hot water for tea, lattes, mochas, espressos, hot chocolate etc, we get a free two course meal every day. Fantastic freshly made food, really high quality, lots of choice.

Apparently it's a historical thing from when the company used to be located in a building in the middle of nowhere. Mind you, it helps make up for the atrocious salaries.

KiKi

Haha, i bet the op goes green when they read this;)

BobQ

KiKi wrote: »

I'm doing some contract work at the moment and not only do we have really lovely machines that provide filter coffee, hot water for tea, lattes, mochas, espressos, hot chocolate etc, we get a free two course meal every day. Fantastic freshly made food, really high quality, lots of choice.

Apparently it's a historical thing from when the company used to be located in a building in the middle of nowhere. Mind you, it helps make up for the atrocious salaries.

KiKi

You are lucky but how does this help the OP?

THe employer must provide cold drinking water and the toilets are unlikely to be a safe location to provide it.

The cafe suffices as a place to get hot food and drinks unless its closed when the business is operating (eg during the night?) and their are no alternatives nearby.

You are entitled to a place to rest during breaks but this could be a workstation if its clean and you are allowed to eat at it without interruptions.

The thing to do is go to the library and read the Regulations and the Approved Code of Practice that provides guidance on how to interpret it.

There is no entitlement to free tea and coffee.

ceridwen

pea-benn wrote: »

The problem is that I'd have to pay for the facilities nearby!

I've always taken free tea and coffee for granted in the industry I work in. In fact, most places I've worked before have had free soft drinks. One place even had big fruitbowl for us to help ourselves.

We could probably get a kettle and a fridge in the actual office but then they'd be no where to wash the cups up (apart from the toilets).

In your position - I'd take a spare kettle to work with me to make my hot drinks. As for a fridge - well - I guess it's just a case of having to take in one's milk daily (ie so that it couldnt go off being left outside a fridge overnight).

I DO tend to grin and think it feels a bit "spoilt" to expect to have a work fridge to leave sandwiches in - as that isnt actually necessary. We have work fridges - but I never bother about leaving my lunch in them - I'm only eating in a few hours time anyway.

So - its not VITAL to have a work fridge - though I wouldnt be happy at not being able to keep my milk in on or have chilled drinks in summer. Since there are fridges - then I use them to store shopping in till I go home.

***********************

What I WOULD have as a concern is to wonder why my firm is moving to cheaper offices - cant they afford to pay enough for rent to cover a normal office (ie with those proper kitchen facilities). I'd be keeping a close weathereye on their finances - to see whether I needed to "jump ship" if I could...

They know very well that - law or no law - its the norm for offices to have proper kitchen facilities and they should do so. Since they have that already - but are downgrading from it - then I suspect their finances are dicey.

dickydonkin

agrinnall wrote: »

Two very large companies that I have worked for took away their facilities for staff to make their own hot drinks and installed vending machines instead (one was free, I think the other had a small charge). As far as I remember the primary reason for doing it was the risk of injury from boiling water and the potential for the company to be sued by a scalded employee. .

I have seen where an employee has been scalded by hot beverages from a vending machine and did indeed receive compensation.......however, it was primarily the employers fault - not anything to do with the machine.

This company manufactured polystyrene drinking cups (ironically) and out of principle, would not allow the use of the plastic cups in the machine that was supplied by a competitor.

Staff then had to put their money in the machine and then place a cup in the dispensing aperture - unfortunately, one guy did not place the cup correctly and attempted to rectify the problem just as the vend took place - ouch.

Neither company would allow people to bring in their own kettles or other heating facilities as all electrical items had to be safety tested (although that never seemed to apply to things like phone chargers so I suspect that was more of an excuse than a blanket reason)

Nor did I.

It was not a blanket reason, but a sensible safety measure to prevent fire and electric shocks.

From experience, staff will attempt to bring in appliances from home that are replacing new items -so it was fairly common for staff to bring in delapidated and old models.

I had no way of knowing the integrity of these appliances which were usually electrical items that produced heat - microwaves also produce a risk of leaking radiation - you would be surprised at how many do leak through faulty and dirty door seals.

PAT testing could be done - but having old appliances all over a factory with a warehouse full of highly flammable materials was unacceptable. I amended the company's electric safety policy so that no appliances could be brought in from home and even brand new appliances would require PAT testing.

Again, you would be surprised at how many brand new items failed a basic PAT test - very likely something to do with the rubbish we seem to import from the Far East nowadays.

To implement an effective inspection/testing regime of electrical appliances - you must be able to identify what you actually have on site and allowing staff to bring in their own equipment would just not allow this to happen

As for telephone chargers etc - these are low risk items but still neeeded to be PAT tested.

Edit to add:

As for the OP's situation, wouldn't the ofice in question need to fulfil the requirements of building regulations in respect of the provision of water and sanitary facilities? Certainly the H&S welfare regulations require their provision although no specific element of the regulations state they must be actually IN the building - however, I suspect building regulations would require this.

KiKi

BobQ wrote: »

You are lucky but how does this help the OP?

It doesn't. The nature of the forum is such that often people will add to a thread without answering the OP's question. As long people aren't attacking the OP surely some discussion can also be had.

A number of other people had already posted about their own circumstances at work without answering the OP's question, so I added mine.

If I was someone who gatecrashed everyone else's thread to talk about me, then fair enough; but I offer advice on here, too. Just not in that particular comment.

KiKi

Sambucus_Nigra

I work around and about and I've set up an little kitchen even in small greenhouses so that I can have a hot drink. Provisions and the kettle were in a box in my boot, no milk but I am a keen fan of coffeemate [from the days of working on construction sites]. So I'd just get my kettle, and coffee mate out and carry on regardless.

If I didn't have access to a socket I'd use a gas ring if I had to, perhaps suggest that to them.

Bogof_Babe

What about longlife milk that doesn't have to be refrigerated? If someone with a car could bring in a case or two of it, the staff could share a carton a day. It's not as nice a real milk but in tea or coffee it would be okay. You soon get used to it.