If you manage a
construction
site, you know about occupational safety and health administration ( osha ) standards for maintaining safe and healthy construction site environments. Osha is an agency within the u. S. Department of labor that regulates procedures in the workplace. They create rules designed to maintain the health and safety of all employees on the job site. They are focused on health and safety because improper disposal of human waste leads to biohazards and health concerns, making workplace sanitation crucial. Osha has rigid guidelines to protect the health of all employees. One such regulation mandates employers to provide adequate restroom facilities for their workers , like construction portable toilets.
Construction sites rely on portable toilets to provide a sanitary and comfortable environment for workers. However, without considering the proper best practices, construction sites can quickly become hazardous. It is important to follow osha regulations when planning construction sites, including carefully monitoring the condition of all portable bathrooms. These toilets must be regularly emptied, cleaned, and re-stocked with handwashing supplies, tissues, and other materials necessary for construction work. Ensuring construction staff has access to clean and comfortable restroom facilities will ensure projects stay on track and make construction work much safer for employees of construction sites.
Requirements for hand washing
Proper sanitation is another important part of meeting osha requirements for portable toilets. Specifically, providing a hand-washing zone for workers and keeping toilets cleaned and fully serviced is essential. The following items should always be present in your clients’ portable toilets.
An adequate supply of soap or hand sanitizer
posted instructions for employees to wash their hands
running water with adjustable temperatures
a paper towel dispenser or an air dryer
although you may already provide your clients with thorough portable sanitation insurance, complying with all osha requirements involves meeting a number of important standards. At your next client meeting, go through this list with them to help ensure they meet all relevant portable toilet requirements.
Before we talk about the requirements for gendered portable restrooms on the construction site, lets just give a quick overview on your obligations to provide restrooms to all of your employees. Osha requires that you provide one restroom if you have 20 less workers on site. If you have more than 20 workers, you should provide one toilet seat and 1 urinal per 40 workers on site. The chart below highlights the qualifications. The above are the osha requirements for portable restrooms, but the portable sanitation association international recommends providing one portable restroom for every 10 workers on the jobsite to prevent overuse.
First and foremost, osha regulations dictate that you must have a certain number of restrooms available on site. In regards to portable restrooms, the amount and location is important. Sites with 20 or fewer employees are required to have at least 1 toilet. For sites with 21-199 employees, 1 toilet and 1 urinal per 40 workers is required. For large sites with 200 or more workers, 1 toilet and 1 urinal per 50 workers is necessary. Requirements don’t just apply to the number of restrooms, though. The location of those restrooms is regulated too. They need to be reasonably close by so that it’s not inconvenient to get to them.
Osha regulations say portable restrooms meet specific sanitary requirements, which assure clean and hygienic facilities. Adequate ventilation, lighting and cleanliness are crucial factors to consider when ordering portable restrooms. Be sure your provider complies with osha sanitation standards, like texas johns, for a safe and healthy comfort environment.