Portable Sanitation Association International

4 COVID-19 GUIDELINES FOR PORTABLE SANITATION © Copyright 2020 by the PSAI. All rights reserved. OSHA/CDC REQUIREMENTS GUIDANCE FOR JOB SITE LEADERS REGARDING PORTABLE SANITATION Employers should provide employees with access to soap, clean running water, and materials for drying their hands, or if soap and water are not readily available provide alcohol-based hand sanitizers containing at least 60% alcohol at stations around the establishment for use by both workers and customers. • Facilities must support soap and water washes of at least 20 seconds multiple times a day or a similar number of uses of alcohol-based sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol • Place handwashing stations and/or hand sanitizers in multiple locations (including in or adjacent to portable restrooms) to encourage hand hygiene. • Depending on the size or configuration of the job site, there may need to be multiple handwashing stations available to accommodate the workforce while maintaining social distancing, and stations may need to be restocked during the course of the day to maintain adequate handwashing supplies. The PSAI believes changes in handwashing expectations and minimum standards are here to stay. In order to accommodate these changes you should: • Make sure you have enough hand wash facilities on your job site at all times. At a minimum, the PSAI suggests you assume each employee will need at least three washes per day and possibly more. This includes 1-2 times after using the toilet, once before a meal, and once at the end of the shift. • Talk with your employees and assess how many washes per employee per day above three are likely, but don't let them assume fewer than three. If you doubt people will wash their hands three times a day, update your training and procedures to ensure they wash after toileting and before eating. CDC recommends additional washes if hands are soiled, have been sneezed/coughed in, or if gloves have been changed. • Note that portable handwash equipment varies in its capacity, so discuss the total number of washes or sanitizations each piece of equipment will provide. • Note that hand sanitizer will kill COVID-19 if it contains at least 60% alcohol, but it is not as effective as a cleaning agent. If your employees have dirty hands, you will need hand wash stations instead of or in addition to sanitizer. • Discuss the layout of the job site and the placement of the hand wash or sanitizer stations. Also discuss how they will be stocked and sanitized between services from your provider, who will provide the supplies/cleaners, and how cleaning will be documented. If proper hand wash stations cannot be obtained, employers are advised to "Provide a large (5+ gallon) bucket with a lid and tap that can be used to provide water for handwashing. If this method is used, the water tap should be regularly cleaned and disinfected, and the contaminated wastewater must be collected and treated in accordance with local laws and environmental regulations. Provide fresh clean water daily. The CDC actually provides this guidance because so many job sites are having trouble getting enough hand wash facilities. How can your portable sanitation provider help? Even though your provider may be short of proper hand wash stations, ask about other options they can provide that are at least as good as the "large bucket" option CDC allows. Remember, they do this for a living and will be glad to help you problem-solve until the production of hand wash units catches up with demand. Even though the new CDC/OSHA guidance does not have the force of law in the same manner that a regulation or statute does, it should be heeded at all job sites going forward—as should the recommendations in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. 6 Following CDC and OSHA guidance will improve the safety of your workers and reduce the transmission of COVID-19. It will also insulate you from the consequences of failing to implement these important changes. If you don't implement these things, you risk dissatisfaction from workers and/or their unions on the job site, increased worker's comp claims, as well as civil actions from workers and their families who get sick. Your portable sanitation professional is ready to help. Ask for assistance in these matters; it will help you in more ways than one.

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