Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/954030
42 2018 INDUSTRY RESOURCE DIRECTORY Gender, Special Needs, and the Law Things to Know and Remember 1. Everyone has a right to use the toilet. The Department of Labor's (DOL's) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that all employers under its jurisdiction provide employees with sanitary and available toilet facilities. OSHA's goal is to assure that employers provide a safe and healthy working environment for all employees. 2. Under OSHA's sanitation standard (1910.141), employers are required to provide their employees with toilet facilities. This standard is intended to protect employees from the health effects created when toilets are not available and to comply with "equal protection" requirements. OSHA has consistently interpreted this standard to require employers to allow employees prompt access to sanitary facilities. Further, employers may not impose unreasonable restrictions on employee use of toilet facilities. 3. Portable restrooms to the rescue. Most portable restrooms and single-stall/ dedicated-entry restroom trailers are already amenable to these requirements. As long as they are for a single user, lock from the inside, and are not labeled for a specific gender, they generally comply with what is required. ADA Compliant portable restrooms also provide facilities for those needing assistance in using the toilet. Changing Opinions, Changing Laws Numerous states and municipalities have already created more specific guidelines than the broad concepts above. Beginning in early 2017 California began enforcing a new law that requires all single-occupancy restrooms in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or government agency to be identified as "all gender." These restrooms must be universally accessible. Since the law went into effect, California has clarified that this law does not apply to standard portable restrooms, but most likely does apply to certain portable restroom trailers.