Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1272101
ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION JULY 22, 2020 Page 10 ADA Compliance 30 Years On…Continued from page 9 One way to deal with this without placing a separate ramp is to place a bank of units near the sloped area of the curb that is intended for handicapped use. The large unit can then be placed on the flat area of the curb designed for wheelchair accessibility. • As with standard units, handicapped units need to be placed so that they can be easily delivered, serviced, and picked up. A key point made by another operator is that their company makes a point "to discuss placement details and options [with] the customer." Due to the size of these units and the fact that the floors rest entirely on the ground, "we want to make sure that the customer takes into account such factors as a completely flat surface for the unit to rest upon." The operator continues, "if a flat spot for the ADA unit is some distance away, we want to let the customer know that, depending on how far away the unit has to be placed, this could be construed as an unacceptable 'hardship' by some of the handicapped guests or site inspectors." A third operator had an interesting story to relate concerning the placement of these units: "We were doing an event at a city hall in a small community. The estimated crowd size and length of the event suggested 12 units and one ADA unit would be required. The customer, however, was adamant that the 12 units were fine since they would be hidden from view behind a wall that was almost exactly the size of the units. They therefore had no need of the ADA and would merely have signage that ADA facilities were located inside the building. This distance was about 25–30 yards away. We cautioned them on the fact that handicapped individuals could see this as a hardship in that it took them farther away from the event. The customer was adamant in this matter. After consulting with others in our company, we drafted a simple letter that stated that this arrangement was not in line with our professional opinion and that the event coordinator would accept all responsibility should there be any problems or repercussions. The coordinator hesitated and signed the letter. The next year, the same coordinator took our advice about the entire placement plan. I don't know if they were reprimanded, cited, or fielded complaints but their attitude definitely changed." Access to Portable Restroom Trailers in the Field Trailers are a big investment for portable sanitation companies, and they are often the pride of any organization's fleet. Yet many of them are not ADA- compliant. In recent years, some large restroom trailer models have incorporated ADA sections that lower to the ground and offer the same amenities that are available in the rest of the trailer. In addition, smaller trailers that sit closer to the ground are sometimes equipped with ADA-compliant ramps that lead to a similarly-equally equipped restroom area as that of the other compartments in the trailer. Although these options and others are available on several models designed to accommodate accessibility requirements, one trailer manufacturer flatly stated that so far they haven't sold particularly well. Yet the topic of trailer accessibility was extremely high on the list of concerns for all the operators we spoke to for this article. Continued on page 14