Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1175496
W EEKLY EDITION OCTOBER 9, 2019 "Sa ni ta ry" Porta bl e Sa nita ti on By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director • The number of restrooms provided must minimally meet OSHA's 1:20 rule • If servicing occurs at least twice a week under these conditions, the OSHA standard for "sanitary condition" will likely be met. • If servicing will occur only weekly, units should be provide d on the ANSI - standard basis of 1 unit per 10 workers. • A unit that is too full or otherwise too unkempt to use does not "count" toward the required number of units. With this in mind, it would benefit portable restroom operators to use decals such as the PSAI's 1:10 work site stickers to ensure you are visibly stating the capacity of the units. You can also use the above information to help you in sales and quality control conversations with contractors and other employers. The ANSI Z4.3 - 1995 has undergon e two revisions since OSHA provided the guidance above. In the current version, important terms are now defined as follows in ANSI/PSAI Z4.3 - 2016: Sanitary condition: […] that physical condition of working quarters which will tend to prevent the incidenc e and spread of disease. Sanitize: To make free from dirt, infection, disease, etc., by cleaning it. To make something sanitary. Although neither OHSA nor MHSA has yet had occasion to quote from the updated standard ANSI/PSAI Z4.3 - 2016, we are working to ward adoption of these definitions. Copies of the standard are free to Members of the PSAI by signing in to the PSAI website and downloading them from the PSAI Industry Library . Nonmembers can purchase these standards for $35 in a pdf. Whether – and how – to go beyond this basic definition of sanitary in portable restroom units has been a subject of conversation at many PSAI round table discussions over the years. The thinking falls into two general categories. • Some operators feel that too much is out of the control of portable sanitation companies to strive for, or advertise, that units are "sanitary." They feel the combination of nature's elements delivered in the form of ra in, snow, and blowing dirt, the presence of insects and small animals, and less - than - stellar user behavior, makes it impossible to do more than service the units with a good cleaning solution and appropriate brushes to achieve the definition of "sanitary c onditions" shown above. P AGE 15 CONTINUED ON PAGE 16