The number of porta potties you have at your worksite or event can not only help you pass health department protocols, but it can also greatly improve workplace morale and guest experience.
Besides, if you’re in charge of a large outdoor operation, regardless of the aim, it’s simple humanity and good manners to provide decent and clean space for people to do their business.
OSHA and Porta Potties
Always a popular subject, OSHA has standards that dictate the acceptable number of facilities that must be provided for workers at a worksite to maintain a modicum of health operations and human rights.
A good rule of thumb for worksites is to provide one porta-potty for every person that is expected to work 40 hours per week. With that in mind, there are many different types and capabilities of porta-potties and that must be considered by the foreman or procurement agent on the job.
If you’re the person in charge of arranging the rental for the construction porta potty, there are several considerations to add to your construction site checklist.
Some common questions to keep in mind include:
- Flushable or not
- Sanitization method
- Terrain
- Environment
- Public Access
- Temperature
- Occupant Load Requirements
- ADA Requirements
Local Government and Porta Potties
If you’re not a contractor working on an outdoor worksite, the math behind how many porta potties are needed may be a bit different.
For example, if you’re planning a concert at a local park, you need to consult and be very clear with your local health department on their specific requirements when it comes to sanitation and their preference on how many porta potties per person.
Also, if the event involves the sale or consumption of alcohol, you may be required to increase your order on the porta potty rental.
Whether they’re construction porta potties or public festival porta potties, you should seriously and extensively consult the local health department’s guidelines for sanitation.
Estimating the User Load
This can be pretty straightforward. How many construction workers do you plan on having onsite on a daily basis? Did you ever think you’d have to do this kind of math?
Take the number of construction workers that you believe will be onsite on a daily basis (if you’re not the foreman, this is a good opportunity to consult with them) and divide it by how many porta potties OSHA and/or the local health department requires.
Just Ask an Expert
Look, not everyone is going to be an expert on porta potties. Most of the time, a porta potty rental company will be able to tell you exactly the number of units that you’ll need at a construction site after a brief consultation.
Contacting an expert in this field is one of the classic cases of learning to trust a vendor to do the dirty work (pun intended) for you and to guide you in the right direction in terms of placement and type. According to OSHA rules, click here to find out just how many adequate and accessible porta potties every construction site should have.
