Signs at work on the water fountain and sinks read "hand wash only, do not drink" He works outdoors in the hot sun at this location daily. We buy packs of bottled water, that he can drink. Next year, can we claim that water (with receipt proof) or get a deduction on all these packs of water?
The facility is not planning to get a working water dispenser installed anytime in the near future.
You're not going to be able to deduct the cost as an employee expense, but it sure does appear as if the lack of access to potable water violates OSHA's standards.
See https://www.osha.com/blog/water-requirements
You can file a complaint at the site below.
Agreed---report the mistreatment of employees and the lack of potable water for them. But if she is a W-2 employee, sorry, there is no federal deduction for buying bottled water.
W-2 employees cannot deduct job-related expenses on a federal return. Job-related expenses were eliminated as a federal deduction for W-2 employees by the tax laws that changed for 2018 and beyond. Your state tax laws might be different in AL, AR, CA, HI, MN, NY or PA.