By admin on March 10th, 2008
OHS Facts on Toilet Amenities
Occupational Health and Safety is such a wide ranging subject that we are never surprised at the questions we receive here at Safety Concepts. Lately we have been getting lots of OHS questions about staff amenities and the rights or wrongs of this very sensitive subject.
So here is the essential list of things you need to know about toilets in the workplace.
- The facts are that for all round good health it is crucial that employees have ready access to toilet facilities. Where toilets are not readily available staff can suffer health problems due to lower fluids intake or excessive retention.
- All toilets should preferably be connected to a sewer. If that is not practical the toilet should be an open-closet style or self contained flushing unit.
- Toilets should have a hinged seat and lid and a door that locks or is fastened from the inside.
- The toilet should be regularly cleaned and maintained to ensure good hygiene.
- Female workers should have available an appropriate system for the safe disposal of sanitary items.
- Seperate toilets should be provided for male and female employees by the employer rather than relying on external public toilets.
- However where the business is very small with say less than 10 employees a unisex facility consisting of one toilet, one washbasin and sanitory disposal may be provided, as long as privacy can be assured.
- In multistorey buildings toilets should be installed on at least every second floor.
- Short term workplaces like construction sites require temporary toilets. The temporary toilets must be secured, well lighted, private and ventilated.
- Employees working away from from base need reasonable access to toilets. In these cases the amenity may be in the form of a public toilet as long as the employer ensures that the employee will have access available during normal working hours.
- The number of toilets required depends on how many people (staff and visitors) will use the facilities and also on the type of building. In most workplaces there must be one closet pan toilet for every 20 males and one urinal for every 25 males. For females there must be one closet pan toilet for every 15 people. In busy shopping centres or places that receive large numbers of visitors employers should provide seperate staff amenities. The Building Code of Australia provides the standard guidelines for the number of toilets required.
Is there any requirement for the toilet to be a minimum distance from where food is prepared /consumed?
Hi, I work in a drive through liquor store. The pub attached has a toilet available but it takes over 15 minutes to close the store down to use this facility and my management has said to ring the pub to get someone over to watch the store while I go toilet. the pub staff have recently been told not to come over as they are not covered by health and safety. what are my options? are they allowed to have a workplace without toilet facilities because this is very common in this area. girls also work in this environment without access to a toilet. it is common for people to work over 8 hours without anyone to cover the workplace to take a toilet break.
please help, there is no way to contact my work without my identity known, and last time i questioned a procedure i nearly lost my job
cheers
Hi there, Can anyone tell me if it is compulsary for there to be one toilet for staff and one toilet for clients.
Thanks.
Is there a certain ammount of toilet facilities per person in one office building?
eg: Our office has approximately 60-65 woman & only 3 toilets
Is there a mimimum distance listed between a toilet and a desk? My desk is 4 steps away from a toilet – that echos.
Not nice!
Hi! In a workplace with 15+ employees (one female) plus contractors that come and gotheough the day, there is one toilet and no sanitary disposal provision – the next facilities on site are a couple of minutes drive away. The employer has recently said no to another toilet. Are they required by law to provide another loo for this many people?
Hi Jamii-Leigh
Thanks for your comment – sounds like a tricky predicament! I have attached a link to a factsheet based on the QLD Legislation that will be useful for you to reference the requirements and to arm yourself with the necessary information and facts for your employer!
http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/amenities_brochure.pdf
Good luck!
Joanne
Hi Karen
Geez, you’re not in a very good spot are you? I had a look through the QLD Regulations and I found this…
Work areas and air space – Schedule 16, Part 1, Division 5
Adequate work areas and air space must be made reasonably available to allow suitable standards of
health and safety for the worker. A workplace must have a minimum unencumbered floor area of
2.3 m² for each worker. Unencumbered means clear circulation space with no fixtures or fittings
intruding within the space.
Here is the link where the information came from (the top of page 6):
http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/amenities_brochure.pdf
I hope this helps!
Joanne
Hi Lisa
Thanks for your inquiry – yes, there are provisions for the amount of loo’s in the workplace… I have attached a very useful factsheet based on the QLD Legislation that I am sure you will find very useful!
http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/amenities_brochure.pdf
Thanks again,
Joanne
Hi Beth
Thanks for your comment – I had a squiz around the rules and requirements and it doesn’t specify between staff and clients (not in QLD anyway). But, I have attached a link to the factsheet that spells out all the requirements so, I hope this helps.
http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/amenities_brochure.pdf
Thanks,
Joanne
Hi Joe
Geez, doesn’t sound like you have a very supportive employer. I guess looking at the legislation as long as your employer provides a toilet (the number of loo’s would depend on the number of employees) they are not in breach. However, by making it difficult or impossible to use that toilet could possibly be a different story. The only think I could suggest if you are hesitant in approaching your employer about the issue is to contact your regulatory body ie Workplace Health and Safety/WorkSafe etc and have a chat to them. They have Inspectors available who can come out the workplace and have a chat to your employer and advise them of what their obligations are!
Here is a handy fact sheet for you to have a look at:
http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/amenities_brochure.pdf
Good luck,
Joanne
How far away does a port a potty have to be away from the city drain ?
Dear Sir,
We are only a very small workplace (a retail carpet store) with less than 10 employees. We only have one unisex toilet for use by staff and clients.
My question is one of my managers is starting to use the toilet as a storeroom. In the toilet he is storing stock we use to lay the carpet including chemicals.
Is this allowed under Occupational Health and Safety laws in New South Wales?
Regards
Graham Wallis