Bathroom Stalls in the Workplace

• Bathroom stalls are one of the few places of privacy at work. Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

  Workplace bathroom stalls need to fulfill the standards of cleanliness and hygiene that employees and the public expect. Although most workplace washrooms are not, strictly speaking, public areas, they are shared by many people, and therefore need to be kept in good order for reasons of etiquette and health.

Bathroom Stall Needs

• Stalls in workplace bathrooms need to be kept stocked with toilet paper, functional toilet paper dispensers and stable toilet seats. Many people are a bit queasy about sharing bathrooms with strangers or near-strangers and are more at ease in a stall that has obviously been cleaned to a high standard. Some washrooms now have electric-eye door openers that eliminate contact with handles to reduce the spread of germs.

Hygiene

• Workplace bathroom stalls are at higher risk of contamination than most other work areas, if they become unsanitary. Regular cleaning with soap and bleach can easily reduce or eliminate this threat. Cleaning should include toilets, walls and floors. Training staff to care for and use the bathroom stalls properly reduces cleaning tasks by helping to keep stalls orderly. Posting of reminder signs in workplace stalls is an effective way of keeping paper towels out of the toilet and trash off the floors.

Accessibility

• Most businesses have rules regarding handicapped accessibility to toilet stalls. Doorways need to be large enough to accommodate wheelchairs, and walkways between sinks and stalls need to allow a wheelchair. In larger bathrooms, at least one stall needs to be fitted with bars that can help a wheelchair user move to and from the toilet.

Workplace Bathroom Stall Etiquette

• Because of its enforced intimacy, a workplace bathroom is a somewhat awkward place at the best of times. It can be made far worse if someone with a gastric disturbance is using one of the stalls. Workplace etiquette dictates that, if at all possible, you do others the favor of waiting until you are alone in the bathroom before expressing your gastric distress.

Graffiti

• The walls of a bathroom stall are not infrequently the venue of choice for disaffected employees to express their unhappiness with their employers. While these missives can be entertaining, they can also descend into the realm of the uncalled for. Some businesses minimize graffiti by providing chalkboards in stalls where users can express themselves, and then be quickly erased.