IOWA CITY, IOWA, — Federal regulations that require employers to provide restrooms for their employees also mean workers must be allowed to use restrooms when they need them at work, according to new guidelines released this week by regulators to address an issue that two University of Iowa professors raised with OSHA and closely monitored. Staff complaints about restrictions on washroom use should be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine if the restrictions are appropriate. The nature of the restriction, including the time it takes employees to delay use the washroom and the employer`s explanation of the restriction, must be carefully considered. In addition, the investigation should examine whether restrictions are general or occur only in certain circumstances or with certain supervisors, whether employer policies recognize individual medical needs, whether workers have reported adverse health effects, and how often workers are denied access to washrooms. It is important to know these factors not only to determine whether a citation will be issued, but also to decide how to characterize a violation. The hygiene standard is intended to ensure that employers provide workers with available washrooms and washrooms so that employees do not suffer the health effects that can occur when washrooms are not available when employees need them. Individuals vary greatly in how often they need to urinate and defecate, with pregnant women, women with stress incontinence, and men with an enlarged prostate having to urinate more frequently. Increased emptying frequency can also be caused by various medications, environmental factors such as cold and high fluid intake, which may be necessary for people working in a hot environment. Diet, medication use and health status are among the factors that can affect the frequency of defecation. In 1974, the U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a hygiene standard that required employers to provide washrooms for their employees and provided specifications for these facilities. At the time, OSHA believed the standard was explicit; 6. However, in April of this year, the agency issued another memo to clarify the intent of the standard regarding workers` use of washrooms. OSHA`s sanitation standard should ensure that employers provide their employees with available sanitary washrooms. OSHA has issued the interpretation note to ensure that employees do not experience adverse health effects (urinary tract infections, kidney damage, constipation, abdominal pain, hemorrhoids, diverticula) that can occur if they cannot use (or are discouraged) from using the toilet when needed. Table J-1 ———————————————————————— Minimum number of persons employed Water cabinets 1 ———————————————————————— 1 to 15…………………………… 111 to 150………… 6 More than 150……………… (2) ———————————————————————— 1 If toilets are not used by women, urinals may be provided instead of water toilets, except that the number of toilets may not be reduced to less than 2/3 of the minimum specified in such cases.
The quoted provision of the standard is immediately followed by a paragraph stating that the washroom provision does not apply to mobile work crews or places that are normally unattended, “provided that employees working at such sites have immediate transportation to nearby washroom facilities that meet the other requirements” of the standard (29 CFR 1910.141(c)(1)(ii) (emphasis added). For example, employees who are part of mobile crews or who work in normally unattended locations must be able to leave their workplace “immediately” and go to “nearby” washrooms. That provision was clearly intended to ensure that those workers were protected in the same way as workers on fixed construction sites by the general provision. Together, the two provisions make it clear that all employees must have immediate access to washrooms. From the International Occupational Health and Hazards Information Bulletin PO Box 199 Sheffield S1 4YL England www.hazards.org/toiletbreaks.htm On April 6, 1998, we published an interpretation of section 1910.141(c)(1)(i) requiring employers to provide washrooms so that employees can use them when needed. A copy of the note is attached. The 1998 memorandum states that citations proposed for violations of this standard must be forwarded to the Compliance Programs Directorate (STC) for review and approval. Shortly after the interpretation, it was decided that review and approval should be carried out at WHO/Europe level, but that copies of all quotations issued on the basis of the 6 April 1998 interpretation should continue to be sent to the STC.
