15 Feb What welfare facilities are required on site for rail workers?
The importance of trackside welfare facilities for mobile workers
Here at EasyCabin, we are proud to offer a range of welfare facilities for mobile workers, specifically designed and manufactured for rail track teams.
In this article, we will look at what welfare facilities are required on site for rail workers and why they are so important…
The importance of railway health and safety regulations
Come rain or shine, rail workers need to be able to operate efficiently, competently and safely. This is potentially high risk activity. Teams must be fit to work and prevented from suffering fatigue or ill-health which can lead to errors.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) states: ‘welfare is a fundamental and basic necessity for workers’. Clients and contractors are legally responsible for providing railway welfare facilities on trackside projects.
Much like a construction site, project managers must provide rail workers with suitable facilities throughout the length of the project. On notifiable projects (longer than 30 days or 500 person days), the client must ensure the phase does not start until they are satisfied that appropriate welfare arrangements have been made.
What welfare facilities are required on site?
In compliance with railway health and safety regulations, it is essential that welfare facilities are available for comfort and convenience:
- Toilets
- Washing facilities
- Fresh drinking water
- Changing areas and storage lockers
- Facilities for rest and eating
The type and scale of on-site welfare facilities will depend on the size, location and nature of the project in question. Click for more details of HSE’s on-site health and safety regulations.
Across the board, our high-quality welfare units are HSE-compliant. However, it is important to check your pre-construction information to ensure that your workers have access to all of the necessary facilities – some rail projects may have additional individual requirements.
Developing trackside welfare facilities for mobile workers
Working on a railway line can present a unique set of challenges, and welfare facilities need to reflect this:
- Challenging terrain or vegetation is often found close to a railway line, e.g. railway lines are often abutted by steep embankments. This can make it exceptionally difficult to position facilities close to the work area.
- Tracks often pass through remote locations, far from shops and other public amenities.
- Working in a linear way, along a track, means that workers could end up being some distance from static facilities.
- Many projects require working at night, to limit disruption to daytime rail services.
- When essential work is scheduled, rail workers must face a spectrum of weather conditions regardless, all-year round.
Designing welfare facilities for rail workers
Knowing that rail workers rely heavily on welfare facilities, we have designed a range for their ease and convenience.
We have harnessed our rail industry knowledge and wealth of welfare experience to design a range of specialised railway welfare units. Our EasyRail units offer the following benefits:
- Road2Rail technology – our specialist facilities utilise rail tracks (when trains are not running), in order to move with the team. They are easy to manoeuvre and put in place, regardless of the terrain.
- Meet fire safety specifications required due to being placed adjacent to the railway line.
- Quick and simple to position and set up – essential when operating close to a railway line where trains may still be running.
- Choose from vehicle-mounted, mobile or static railway welfare facilities that have been specifically designed and built for the rail and trackside markets.
- Efficient energy performance – high standards of insulation, LED lighting, low carbon ‘air’ heating and fuel-saving battery/ generator combinations. This means that you do not need to worry about the efficiency or environmental impact of these railway welfare units
Our welfare facilities for rail workers
Our range provides a safe and comfortable welfare solution for rail work teams. These sturdy welfare facilities can easily be moved along the railway line, as required:
Specifically designed for the rail sector, this unit is mounted on a road-to-rail trailer and towed by a R2R 4×4 to provide welfare facilities to trackside teams.
- Canteen facilities for 6 persons
- Microwave and kettle
- Separate male/female toilets
- LED lighting
- EcoSmart features
- Optional ‘Air’ efficient diesel heating upgrade
To comply with rail regulations, the trailer has a seated position for an operator to view the track. Whilst the trailer is in motion on the tracks, the operator can stop the trailer at any time using an emergency stop button.
Our trackside hot and cold drinks trolley is mounted onto a rail platform. Due to the linear nature of a rail track, this enables the trolley to travel along the railway line. The team always has a supply of hot and cold drinks available, without having to return back to base each time.
Our range of eco-friendly rail welfare facility units ensure that a trackside project is fully-compliant with relevant health and safety law and workers are comfortable and productive. Our design team can also offer bespoke-built cabins that are tailor made for your project’s requirements.
Looking for welfare cabins for rail workers?
To find out more about our range of welfare facilities for mobile workers operating on railway projects, please get in touch today. Our friendly and helpful team will be happy to help you decide on the best option for you.
Alternatively, if you need to discuss what welfare facilities are required on site, call us on 01582 310692 or contact us here. We look forward to hearing from you.
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