The average person will need to visit a restroom about once every four hours under regular circumstances. If people drink lots of fluids, bathroom visits can increase by 30 to 40 percent. If you are the owner of a construction business, the law mandates that you have restroom facilities available for your employees.
Portable toilets have simplified the lives of business owners, event planners, and homeowners undergoing construction for a long time. These convenient facilities have actually been around since World War II when people first used them on ships. If you plan to rent portable toilets for the first time as a construction business owner, learn the basics of what you need to know.
How Many Portable Toilets Do You Need?
Place one portable restroom facility per ten employees to keep everyone served and comfortable on your construction job site.
During the summer months when employees drink more to stay cool and hydrated, you may want to increase the numbers of rented facilities because your employees will need a bathroom more often. If you bring in more crewmembers as the job progresses, make sure you order more toilets to accommodate the added employees.
Where Should You Put the Portable Toilets?
You may have specific zoning regulations where your planned project takes place. Therefore, check with the local zoning and permit organizations to find out where specifically you are and are not allowed to place a portable sanitation facility at a construction site. However, you need to follow some general rules for portable toilet placement at a work site, including:
- Place the facilities in an easily accessible location for all employees.
- Place the facilities in a more confined area away from public view (i.e. not directly beside a busy sidewalk).
- Place the facilities on a clean, level surface so the unit will not be in danger of tipping.
- Place the facilities in a safe area free from potential hazards like moving traffic.
As far as accessibility, OSHA states that the restroom facilities on a job site must be no more than 10 minutes away, which they consider as nearby and compliant with their employee safety guidelines. If you have a rather large site, you may need to place the portable toilets in a few different areas to meet this guideline.
Who Empties the Portable Toilets?
If you will need the portable toilets for a while, the company you rent the facilities from will come to the site and empty the toilets. This is more feasible for them instead of them retrieving the toilets, emptying them, and then replacing them as they fill. The company will send out a pumping truck that connects a hose to the portable toilets’ outlet line and pumps the waste out of the hidden receptacle.
Once the company removes the waste, they will add a blue chemical solution to help fight odors and combat bacterial growth. Because the company brings equipment to the work site to empty the toilets, make the rented facilities accessible to the pumping truck driver. During the emptying process, the company may clean the facility and restock it with toilet paper.
Overall, renting portable toilets is the easiest way to ensure you stay within mandated guidelines to keep employees safe in an outdoor working environment. If you need help with renting portable toilets for the first time, reach out to us at Porta John of Tulsa for professional guidance you can trust.
We are happy to answer any of your questions and concerns about portable toilets for your construction site. We are also happy to guide you through the entire process of what to expect.