• The number of employees in a workplace determines the minimum number of water closets required.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) sanitation standard is intended to ensure that employers provide employees with sanitary and available toilet facilities. The number of restrooms that must be provided depends on the number of employees of each sex as outlined in 29 CFR 1910.141(c)(1). Toilet facilities, in toilet rooms separate for each sex, must be provided in numbers according to the following table:

Each water closet must occupy a separate compartment with a door and walls or partitions between fixtures sufficiently high to ensure privacy.

Where toilet facilities will not be used by women, urinals may be provided instead of water closets so long as the number of water closets is not reduced to less than two-thirds of the minimum specified.

Separate toilet rooms for each sex are unnecessary if:

• Toilet rooms will be occupied by no more than one person at a time,
• Toilet rooms can be locked from the inside, and
• Each toilet room contain at least one water closet.

These single occupancy rooms must count as one water closet.

Employers must also ensure that the sewage disposal method does not endanger the health of employees.

A July 5, 1983, OSHA Letter of Interpretation says there are no specific distance or location requirements for toilet facilities. An employer is, however, expected to use reasonable judgment in evaluating the proximity of sanitary facilities. If an employer provides the required toilet facilities for all employees in the same building and provides unobstructed free access to them, it appears the intent of the standard would be met; however, 1 floor of toilet facilities serving 20 floors of employees would not be reasonable and appropriate.

For employers in the construction industry, the regulation at 1926.51 provides a different table for the number of toilets required, as follows: