Toilet facility regulations

We have a bakery / takeaway shop with 3 cafe tables for customers to 'eat in'.
Our only toilet and hand wash basin is at the back of the shop, through the kitchen/prep area.
Does anyone know the legal position of this?
Thanks

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This post has been removed because it contravened our guidelines.

Hi Christine - a good place to start is here

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_070741.pdf

I am member of a golf club, which at present, as many golf clubs is suffering from lack of funds, we try to increase our revenue by offering our facilities for outside functions, ie. wedding receptions, birthdays etc.we are being told that we must provide disabled toilets, however the cost of this would put us in further financial difficulties.
We are on ground level, and have a ramp for access to the club house,
there are no disabled staff. and the building is about 36 years old, so therefore does not come into a 'New Build category,
I have searched the web, and can get no clarification as to the legal requirements, for our predicament.
Please can someone help us.
Christine Dawson

Can anyone explain to me the regulations around disabled toilet facilities in the workplace. I am a registered disabled person and my place of work does not provide disabled facilities.

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Can anyone help me? We are a small business and the toilet facilities broke today. I am getting a new toilet installed tomorrow. Does this mean that I have to close the office or can I tell the staff that they can take a break in the morning and afternoon in addition to their lunch long enough for them to go home and relieve themselves?

An extension of the toilet issue now that challenges to modesty/decency/dignity exceptions have been extended to shop assistants to see how people react and what they will tolerate! The first casualty that has been reported to me as part of my work role is as follows:- A woman trying on a bra in a female designated changing room in thelingerie dept of a big department store had 2 male assistants open the curtains while she was undressed via a verbal 'knock, knock' without giving her time to respond. As she grabbed the curtain to regain some dignity she overheard one of them asking the other 'if he had got a good look at those'? She had a minor with her in the next cubicle who was very distressed by witnesssing this incident although luckily this did not happen to her. The manager promised that the assistants would be disciplined and offered to call the police! These privacy violations which amount to harrassment will only stop if enough people complain and report offensive incidents instead of putting up with them. The SDA is being replaced by the Equality Act from 1 October 2010 and will replace the SDA GOQs with an occupational requirement test which may help prevent discrimination in employment but will not address these privacy & dignity violations because they are being viewed as a matter of employer good/bad practice. How many people know that these challenges to sex segregation are being seen as successful because more people appear to be putting up with the discomfort compared to the number of people objecting and complaining (as measured by numbers of people using the facilities eg Service Station toilets where there is no choice)? Many people on the street still do not realise that they risk embarrassment and distress/dignitary harm every time they enter a public toilet/changing room whether there are warning signs or not? Responsibility for protecting yourself or your child is down to the individual and it is considered that we all have a choice i. e to use a cubicle (in public toilets) , or change under a towel as if on a beach, if we do not wish to be seen naked in a changing room, even though we are in a single sex designated facility where it has been considered reasonable to expect same sex privacy! Sex segregation has been challenged as perpetuating stereotypical views of men and women and bodily modesty and thereby preventing true equality for women! Unless more people take note of what is going on and protest about privacy violations caused by these changes in social policy which have been imposed upon the public without our consent, this sad state of affairs is set to continue until there is enough proof that distress/dignitary or physical harm is being caused or until something terrible happens, perhaps to a child. Equality is about choice, imposed invasion of bodily privacy without consent is akin to sexual harrassment/assault. Start protesting loudly, verbally and in writing, if you are unhappy with the current state of affairs!

Ta for that Jeanette!

KISS - Keep it simple stupid.

We have also checked up on the cleaning policy for cruise ships expecting same sex workers in sports facility changing rooms and have been told that cleaners/workers enter opposite sex Spa changing rooms as well as toilets by knocking and opening the door to see if anyone is in there! How many people are really comfortable to have an opposite sex worker opening the door and gawping at them in what is supposed to be a single sex changing room? Do people actually know about these policies or do they just assume it is a mistake when it happens to them?

Agreed but somehow I do not think that is going to happen without enforcement of legislation/regulations! We had the misfortune to be forced to stop at Thurrock Services (M25) over the weekend due to traffic congestion. It took 20 minutes to find a manager to ensure the 2 male cleaners (who did not have a good grasp of English language or customs) did not enter the female facilities (isolated in the basement). The Disabled toilets here require a Radar key and can be opened while the facility is in use by another radar key holder so they are not a viable alternative! Birchanger (Welcome Break M11) had permanant warning signs to allow unrestricted access by male and female cleaners to either facility interchangeably (according to their manager) despite having one male and one female cleaner on duty! I have also found this to be the case at various department stores eg Debenhams always have 4 cleaners on a shift (always at least one male or female) but allocate toilet cleaning duties according to a rota to ensure they get experience in all areas! debenhams also had a male assistant manning a female changing room last time I was there! Common sense seems to have vanished along with reasonable sex segregation! Staff are now depersonalised to gender neutral! Sorry to appear stupid Ernie but what does KISS mean?

It doesn't really matter what individual opinions or sensitivities are here if we apply the principle of KISS. Just have men clean the gents and women clean the ladies, end of problem end of discussion.

It doesn't really matter what individual opinions or sensitivities are here if we apply the principle of KISS. Just have men clean the gents and women clean the ladies, end of problem end of discussion.

It doesn't really matter what what individual opinions or sensitivities are here if we apply the principle of KISS. Just have men clean the gents and women clean the ladies, end of problem end of discussion.

Jodie
Knocking may be appropriate to signal intent to enter an office, but not an opposite sex area where people are undressed/performing prersonal bodily functions (women often use sink areas to change because cubicles are small). Knocking is not failsafe as it relies on the ability to hear the knock (many elderly have hearing impairment), to understand what it means ie it is not just someone banging the door with a briefcase or shopping on their way in- and to be able to react quickly enough to know what to say-yeah, f off etc! It would be very undignified to be expected to respond while using a cubicle or a urinal and if there are two or three people, whose responsibility is it to answer? There needs to be a better way of checking occupancy if hararassment/privacy violations are to be avoided and for people to feel comfortable using public facilities.

This would involve searching shopping carts full of their possessions which could endanger employees via needle pokes. Not a bad idea otherwise.

Confiscate the drugs on entry to premises?

Thanks for your feedback Kevin. This is a facility that serves addicts and homeless. No, not all doors have been removed - disabled door remains as do doors on staff washroom cubicles. Our workers claim they are being exposed to harmful fumes from crack smoke when entering the washrooms and since removing the cubicle doors, use had dropped dramatically. It is true, however, that many of the people using the facility resend being punished for the transgressions of the minority. IMHO, I believe we should replace the doors with a modified smaller door that allows us to view potential abusers of the washrooms but protects the dignity of those using the facilities for the proper reasons. Any other suggestions??

Gail, what's the context? Are you saying all employees from the MD to the work experience girl all have to use a cubicle with no door. If not, why not? Or are you trying to discourage use by inmates or customers?
Does this policy also apply to your disabled facilities?
How do you personally feel when you have to use these facilities? I don't know from your post how widespread this problem is but it looks as if you're punishing everybody for the transgressions of only some, and IMHO that is the slippery slope to ruin.

Can someone tell me if there is a 'Legal" (Human Rights, Workplace Health and Safety) requirement to have a door on a bathroom cubicle. We have removed ours to curb illicit drug use (as a last resort).

With regards the gender of cleaners cleaning toilets, we have male and female cleaners cleaning the toilets of both genders. They know to knock and await a response before entering the toilets and the signage they carry to place on the toilet doors states the gender of the cleaner.

However with changing facilities, we only permit same gender cleaners.

Keith, simple way to avoid providing the alcohol gel - prolonged use can cause dermatitis since the alcohol dries out the hands. Simple soap and water is just as effective.