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I work in a job where access to toilets can be tricky as I'm on the road a lot. But sometimes I work on a site for maybe a week or 2 at a time. My company refuse to pay for welfare facilities and expect me to use public toilets.
I've generally put up with this as I don't like rocking the boat but recent health issues have meant that I'm more in need of them, however I haven't made my employer aware of this issue as I don't want it to cause me grief at work and I've been just getting on with it. Next week I'm due on a site where there is no water/toilets and a 10 minute walk to public toilets. Where do I stand legally if I raise the issue that there should be access to toilets? Just to clarify, although toilets are 10 mins walk away, the nature of my job would probably make it a 30 minute process to get to.
As an IBS sufferer that sounds like absolute hell
What toilet and washing facilities do I need to provide?
You have to provide adequate toilet and washing facilities for your employees.
‘Adequate’ means you have to provide:
■ enough toilets and washbasins for those expected to use them _ people should
not have to queue for long periods to go to the toilet;
■ where possible, separate facilities for men and women _ failing that, rooms with
lockable doors;
■ clean facilities _ to help achieve this walls and floors should preferably be tiled
(or covered in suitable waterproof material) to make them easier to clean;
■ a supply of toilet paper and, for female employees, a means of disposing of
sanitary dressings;
■ facilities that are well lit and ventilated;
■ facilities with hot and cold running water;
■ enough soap or other washing agents;
■ a basin large enough to wash hands and forearms if necessary;
■ a means for drying hands, eg paper towels or a hot air dryer;
■ showers where necessary, eg for particularly dirty work.
You must always consider the needs of those with disabilities.
A public is going to fail on most of them 😂
I think as well as the responsibility to employees, there is an environmental responsibility to stop workers nipping one off in the bushes...
There is exceptions to the above requirements for transient sites, but I'd be surprised if anything lasting 2 weeks would count. If you don't feel you can approach your work direct do they have a whistleblowing number you can call? Failing that there is always the HSE you can contact.
What Matt said, the army training areas round here are littered with portaloos, although I've never seen them being emptied!
A nearby public toilet could be 'adequate' for most people, the employer doesn't have to provide them exclusively (e.g. it would be unusual for a subcontractor to provide their own) its usually written into the CDM who's legally responsible for what on site.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">But if you have IBS, crohns, a UTI or just a slightly too hot curry last night they could be very inadequate! In which case its your employers responsibility to make any allowances for your health issues.</span>
are you subcontracting on the site? if so the main contractor( in construction at least ) should provide suitable welfare facilities. If you are the main contractor then your employer should provide this? if we are doing very short term work anywhere sometimes enough to ID local mcdonalds etc as somewhere to go
With the way the cutbacks to council services are going like here in Bristol where all and I mean all public toliets have been closed, I think your employer is skating on thin ice
Your situation doesn’t sound acceptable.
Your first port of call would be the HSE website for guidelines. If that doesn’t provide information then a call to them or the Considerate Constructors Scheme may help.
Does your employer have an occupational health rep?
I work for a small company so no whistle blowing dept. No HR or anything of the such.
My job role means I am usually the first person on site, no other workers. Usually no client on site, so no toilets put in place. Normally my job only means I'm on site a day or two, but for larger sites then it could be a week or two. This job is one week.
I've continually voiced my opinion about it on previous similar occasions but just get told that there isn't a budget for it and public toilets are sufficient.
Ooooh a guessing game?
Setting out?
My job role means I am usually the first person on site, no other workers. Usually no client on site, so no toilets put in place. Normally my job only means I’m on site a day or two, but for larger sites then it could be a week or two. This job is one week.
I don't think you can complain about it for up to a week, two weeks is pushing it IMHO but it comes down to whether or not it is reasonably practicable which basically means the cost of providing the welfare vs the benefits to doing so vs the risks not doing so. In your case I think you are out of luck being on your own and for such short durations. Most hire places will have a minimum hire plus transportation costs each way so to provide a portable toilet for a day or two will cost as much as maybe a week or even two weeks depending on hire company. Depending on the margins involved wth the work you do, this could make your company uncompetitive for whatever the service is you provide.
Do you have a works vehicle? Could you look at having welfare facilities installed in that?
This shop was made to sell these things...
In which case its your employers responsibility to make any allowances for your health issues.
Which they can only know if they're told about them.
I reckon the OP has a straightforward choice; be honest with their employer (And I appreciate that might have repercussions) or be known as the whinging snowflake for whom public toilets are not "good enough". Only the OP will know how either of these might play out.
Thanks for the link Kuco.
Looks like my type of work would be classed as transient work for up to one week and so public toilets can be used if no other options are suitable, which is what my employer would say.
It's good to know that if I'm working on a site for longer than a week then toilets should be provided.
Cheers for all the replies.
Although you're the first and only person on site, presumably someone else is there after you doing the next piece of work. So its not just a single week of working on your own?
Portaloo hire is about £25/week, it really isn't an expensive line item.
Depends how desperate you are, do you have a van? Would you be prepared to use a cassette toilet and have to empty it at the end of the day?
What about a camping toilet tent and cassette toilet
Just point out to them that a 30min trip to the local McDonalds toilet charged at your hourly overtime rate is significantly more than the cost of a portaloo.
Setting out engineer? Charged to client at what about £500 per day? Try pointing out that 2 hours lost time in a week going to find a toilet would work out less than the cost of hiring a thunderbox!
How did i not notice that last post?
Your employer needs to commit a chemi-khazi.
Some of my friends have bought the little cassette toilet above and keep this in the back of the van for no2's. They are landscape/tree surgeons etc and often have no access to toilets.
I used to carry a few heavy duty bags in the back of the van years back.... not pleasant but it saved having to make a desperate dash to a near by hedge.
Your position sounds familiar to mine about 10 years back where the modular building contractor I worked for used to have no welfare until the building was pretty much erected (only took a few days). When the sites tightened up and we had to have on site welfare cabins and a site agent for each site the firm seriously struggled to be competitive and this may have been one of the factors that did for the firm in the end, they always maintained that they just couldn't build in the extra H&S costs to the projects!
they always maintained that they just couldn’t build in the extra H&S costs to the projects!
That's why it's legislation, if you can't compete doing it properly then its something else, because everyone else should be doing it too.
The alternative is your boss is pocketing the portaloo budget.
everyone else should be doing it too.
Yes they should, but corners get cut left, right and centre because they can, and do, get away with it.