How Many Toilets Does Your Workplace Need?

Do you know how many toilets your business needs? The answer isn’t as many as it takes to eliminate the wait. And in most cases, the answer isn’t going to be just one, based on government regulations. How many toilets does your workplace need? We’ll analyze the current toilet cubicle regulations to give you a rough estimate no matter how large your workplace is.

For Female Only Work Groups

If your office has between one and five women, there must be at least one toilet and one wash basin. If there are between six and 25 people, you must have at least two toilets and two wash basins. If there are 26 to 50 women, the company must provide at least 3 toilets and wash basins. For firms with 51 to 75 people, a minimum of four toilets and wash basins must be provided. If there are up to 100 women, at least 5 toilets and wash basins must be provided. You are certainly allowed to provide more toilets and wash basins.

For Male Only Work Groups

If a company only has men working there, then the rules state that you must provide almost as many toilets as urinals. For a business with up to 15 men, there must be at least one toilet and urinal. With up to 30 employees, you must provide at least two toilets and one urinal.

For Mixed-Sex Work Groups

In general, the rules regarding a female only workplace can be applied to mixed sex workplaces. If your office has between one and five people, there must be at least one toilet and one wash basin. If there are between six and 25 people, you must have at least two toilets and two wash basins. If there are 26 to 50 employees, the company must provide at least 3 toilets and wash basins. If there are up to 100 employees, at least 4 toilets and wash basins must be provided. And the firm must provide three urinals. Many businesses decide to provide additional urinals in the men’s bathrooms for the sake of convenience, since this requires relatively little additional space.

Once you surpass 100 employees, one toilet and wash basin have to be added for every 25 people. If you’re in an all-male environment, it can be 1 toilet and 1 urinal for every fifty men.

If your employees are required to work with hazardous materials or perform unhygienic tasks, it is advisable to provide showers for your employees. However, this is not required in the standard workplace. Know that these come with different rules to protect employee privacy and maintain a safe workplace.

Note that if your employees are working at a remote site like a construction site, a portable toilet and water container must be provided in place of appropriate bathrooms. And you can’t use portapotties to meet the minimum toilet count in your workplace.

What About Disabled Toilets?

The Equality Act of 2010 requires handicap toilets be installed in all workplaces. They can be in the men’s and women’s bathrooms as their own stalls. You can also meet the requirements by having a unisex disabled toilet. These bathrooms should be restricted to those who can’t use other toilets. The ideal solution is to meet the minimum toilet count and have additional disabled toilets that can be used by whoever needs them.