Helpful articles and information.

Helpful Hints and Information

How Many Potties Per Jobsite?

Yes, someone studied it. How many portable toilets are necessary for various kinds of job sites? Generally contractors provide a minimum number of sanitation facilities to meet basic needs and satisfy OSHA requirements. However, a break-even point can be determined up to which each additional unit earns for the contractor a return high enough to pay for itself. To determine that break-even point, the PSA National Health Committee commissioned the Center for Business and Industrial Studies, University of Missouri – St. Louis, to study four different types of construction sites: home, utility, high-rise, and highway.

Taken into consideration were the varying requirements of each site, the number of workers, and placement of portable toilets. One additional toilet was installed at each job site. In measuring the economic effect, workers hourly wages and benefits were factored in, along with hourly rates for equipment costs and subcontractor costs. Placement of the facilities and optional accessibility were surveyed.

With basic costs established, direct savings can be measured using four different methods: time savings, distance savings, net-cost savings, and savings as a percentage of cost.

Time saved by installing one additional unit on each of the four sites thus reducing the length of time workers waste waiting for a unit to become available or walking to a unit amounted to an average of 15 minutes per worker per day. The average savings as a percentage of direct cost was 600%. In addition to direct cost savings, indirect benefits were also realized.

Some of the indirect benefits were:
• With reduced travel time to and from facilities, workers saved valuable break time.
• Additional and easily accessible facilities increased the cleanliness of the work environment.
• Workers did not have to work in an uncomfortable state.

To realize these direct and indirect benefits requires correct placement of toilets for ease of access by all workers. Each group of seven or more workers on a work site should have at least one toilet placed within 100 feet of a central location.

For more information regarding this study, call the Portable Sanitation Association International at 1-800-822-3020.

* Reprint of Dodge Construction News Article October 24, 1988

Print Return