18. Sanitary equipment

Council Directive 89/654/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace (first individual directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) · European Union

Appropriate changing rooms must be provided for workers if they have to wear special work clothes and where, for reasons of health or propriety, they cannot be expected to change in another room. Changing rooms must be easily accessible, be of sufficient capacity and be provided with seating. Changing rooms must be sufficiently large and have facilities to enable each worker to lock away his clothes during working hours. If circumstances so require (e.g. dangerous substances, humidity, dirt), lockers for work clothes must be separate from those for ordinary clothes. Provision must be made for separate changing rooms or separate use of changing rooms for men and women. If changing rooms are not required under 18.1.1, each worker must be provided with a place to store his clothes. Adequate and suitable showers must be provided for workers if required by the nature of the work or for health reasons. Provision must be made for separate shower rooms or separate use of shower rooms for men and women. The shower rooms must be sufficiently large to permit each worker to wash without hindrance in conditions of an appropriate standard of hygiene. The showers must be equipped with hot and cold running water. Where showers are not required under the first subparagraph of 18.2.1, adequate and suitable washbasins with running water (hot water if necessary) must be provided in the vicinity of the workstations and the changing rooms. Such washbasins must be separate for, or used separately by, men and women when so required for reasons of propriety. Where the rooms housing the showers or washbasins are separate from the changing rooms, there must be easy communication between the two. Separate facilities must be provided in the vicinity of workstations, rest rooms, changing rooms and rooms housing showers or washbasins, with an adequate number of lavatories and washbasins. Provision must be made for separate lavatories or separate use of lavatories for men and women.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-06 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.