50-person crew, all men: can we use urinals only?

Question

I run a 50-person residential construction crew, all men, on a six-month project. We have a tight city lot, and I am trying to save space. I am considering ordering portable urinals only instead of standard portable toilets. The crew works eight-hour shifts, five days a week, with no alcohol or food service on site. The ground is level gravel, and a vacuum truck can park right next to the placement area. I know OSHA 1926.51 requires one toilet seat and one urinal per 40 workers for my crew size. Does the standard allow for urinals to satisfy the entire requirement, or must I still provide at least one standard unit with a seat? What is the practical experience with an all-urinal setup for a male crew?

Brad L. · Answer

No, urinals can't cover the whole requirement. OSHA 1926.51(c)(1) only lets you swap urinals in for toilet seats when no women will use the facilities, and even then the seat count can't drop below two thirds of the Table D-1 minimum. At 50 guys the table puts you at two seats and two urinals, since it's one of each per 40 workers and you round up. Two thirds of two is more than one, so you still need both seats. Plan on two [standard units](https://portapotty.forum/glossary/standard-unit/) no matter what.

From my own sites, an all-urinal setup falls apart by day two anyway. Somebody always needs to sit, and if there's no seat he either walks off the lot to find one or uses the urinal for something it was never built for. That turns into a cleanup and a long lunch.

On a tight lot, what worked for us was two standards plus one urinal stand tucked against the fence, all lined up so the truck can pump them from one spot. The urinal soaks up the quick traffic and the seats stay cleaner between service visits. With 50 men on eight hour days, ask your driver whether weekly service keeps up or if you need a second visit.

50-person crew, all men: can we use urinals only?

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