Site Facilities for Women: Your Legal Right to Separate Toilets and Changing

‍‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​​‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‍# Site facilities, your legal right to separate toilets and changing areas

You're legally entitled to proper toilets and changing space on site, and that includes separate, usable facilities for women, not a filthy shared portaloo with no lock. The law is on your side here; the trick is using it calmly and firmly so you get the facilities without getting stitched up as "awkward".

Quick rule of thumb: if a site can afford cranes, MEWPs and a dozen lads on the tools, it can afford one lockable loo and a half-decent changing area: you don't have to just "put up with it because that's construction".

1. What the law actually says

CDM 2015, welfare on construction sites

CDM 2015 makes the principal contractor responsible for welfare from day one.

Schedule 2 says as a minimum:

• "Suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences" must be provided at readily accessible places.
• Rooms must be ventilated, lit, clean and orderly.
• Washing facilities with hot and cold (or warm) running water, soap and drying facilities must be provided near toilets and, where necessary, changing rooms.
• There must be changing rooms and lockers where workers have to wear special clothing and can't reasonably change elsewhere.

HSE guidance makes it clear: toilets, washing, changing, eating and rest areas are all legal requirements, not a favour the principal contractor does you.

Workplace Regs, the "separate toilets" bit

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 apply to most workplaces and give the clearest wording on separate male/female facilities.

• Regulation 21 says washing facilities must be "suitable and sufficient" and includes detail on water, soap, drying, cleanliness and ventilation.
• The key line is in Schedule 1: washing facilities and toilets are not suitable unless "separate facilities are provided for men and women, except where… the room door is capable of being secured from inside and the facilities in each such room are intended to be used by only one person at a time."
• Schedule 1 also says that in workplaces where females work, there must be "at least one suitable water closet for use by females only for every 25 females" (and the same for males).

So in practice:

• Either you have separate women's toilets,
• Or single-occupancy, lockable cubicles that any gender can use one at a time, with proper privacy and sanitary bins.

A half-knackered portaloo with a broken lock, no bin and a stream of lads rattling the door doesn't meet that standard.

2. What "suitable and sufficient" means in real life

HSE and industry welfare guidance (HSE sheet CIS59 and the Construction Welfare Standards guide) flesh this out. On a mixed-gender site, "suitable and sufficient" generally means:

Toilets

• Enough units for the number of people on site (HSE has ratios, but rule of thumb is at least 1 per 7–10 people on busy sites).
• Clean, lit, ventilated, with toilet paper and sanitary bins in any facility used by women.
• Lockable from the inside · nobody can barge in.

Washing and changing

• Sinks with hot and cold or warm running water, soap and towels/hand dryers.
• Changing area that is separate from rest/eating space, where people can get in and out of PPE and wet/muddy gear in privacy.
• Separate or single-occupancy lockable changing space for women if women are on site.

HSE's welfare overview says explicitly: "remember that separate facilities may be needed for men and women."

A single shared, un-lockable can with nowhere to change and no bin is nowhere near "suitable and sufficient" under CDM or the Workplace Regs.

3. Equality and discrimination angle

If the facilities are so poor that women effectively can't use the toilet or change safely, it's not just a welfare breach, it can be sex discrimination.

Under the Equality Act 2010, if a policy or practice puts women at a particular disadvantage compared to men, and isn't justified, that's indirect sex discrimination.

An Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a case where a woman had to share a male toilet accessed past urinals, with no proper lock and no sanitary bin. The toilets were found to be inherently discriminatory because they didn't meet her needs as a woman.

On a site, if:

• Men can use loos and get changed without worrying about privacy or sanitary needs,
• But you're stuck holding your bladder, changing in your car, or going home early,

then you're being put at a particular disadvantage because you're a woman, and arguably kept out of site work by the environment. That's exactly what the Equality Act is supposed to prevent.

4. How to raise it without getting tagged "difficult"

You shouldn't have to tiptoe, but you also don't want to blow yourself up on day one. Try this sequence:

Step 1, Quiet, factual chat with your supervisor or site manager

Keep it calm and specific, not emotional:

• Point out the exact problems (no lock, no female-only toilet, no sanitary bin, no changing space).
• Reference the law in simple terms:
  • "CDM says you have to provide suitable welfare from day one."
  • "Workplace Regs say toilets aren't suitable unless they're separate for men and women or single-occupancy with a door that locks and sanitary provision."
• Ask for a practical fix, for example:
  • One portaloo designated and signed as women only (with a lock and bin).
  • A lock fitted today and a bin put in.
  • Use of a proper indoor toilet/changing area if there is one.

You can frame it as a compliance issue, not a "preference":

"I just need it to meet what HSE expects so I can actually use the facilities and do my job properly."

Step 2, Follow up in writing (short and neutral)

If nothing changes, send a short email or text so there's a record:

"Just following up on the welfare facilities we talked about, at the moment the toilet isn't lockable and there's no separate or single-occupancy provision for women, or sanitary bin. That doesn't meet CDM 2015 Schedule 2 or the Workplace Regs, and it's making it hard for me to work on site. Can you confirm what you can put in place?"

You're not threatening, just logging the issue and referencing the law.

Step 3, Use internal routes / union / NAWIC

If you're employed or on a long-term contract with a big firm:

• Raise it with H&S or HR internally.
• If you're in a union, speak to your rep or women's officer and ask them to take it up · they'll know how to word it and keep you protected.
• NAWIC or similar groups can also give you wording and informal backing.

Step 4, If they flat-out refuse

If a principal contractor refuses to fix obviously non-compliant welfare:

• You can refuse to work in conditions that aren't safe or decent. Welfare is part of your health and safety, not an optional extra.
• You can ring HSE on 0300 003 1747 or use their online form to report inadequate welfare · they have prosecuted firms just for poor welfare when they ignored improvement notices (no hot water, disgusting facilities, etc.).
• HSE's own welfare guidance explicitly states they "will not hesitate" to take enforcement action where welfare falls below the required standards.

If you go this far, try to:

• Gather simple evidence (photos, dates, your earlier email) in case you're asked.
• Get union support if you can · it gives you extra protection if there's any backlash.

5. Straight talk, where this leaves you

You're not asking for anything fancy. The law expects:

• Decent toilets.
• Lockable privacy.
• Sanitary bins.
• Somewhere to change.

And HSE has already prosecuted firms that ignore welfare standards.

If a site can afford cranes, MEWPs and a dozen lads on the tools, it can afford one lockable loo and a half-decent changing area. You don't have to just "put up with it because that's construction".

What to do next

• On your first day on any site, check the welfare setup: is there a lockable toilet you can use, a sanitary bin, somewhere to change in privacy? If not, raise it with the site manager that day · don't leave it.
• If you raise it and nothing happens, send a short written follow-up referencing CDM 2015 Schedule 2 and the Workplace Regs so there's a paper trail.
• If you're in a union, tell your rep · they can take it up formally and you're protected from backlash under whistleblowing and H&S law.
• If the site flat-out refuses, report it to HSE (0300 003 1747 or online) · poor welfare is an enforcement priority and they will act.

Sources

• Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, Schedule 2 · legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/51/schedule/2 · welfare requirements on construction sites including toilets, washing, changing rooms.
• Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, Regulation 21 and Schedule 1 · legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/3004/contents · separate facilities for men and women, lockable single-occupancy alternative, ratios.
• HSE CIS59 · construction welfare standards information sheet.
• HSE welfare guidance · "will not hesitate" to take enforcement action where welfare falls below required standards.
• Equality Act 2010 · legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents · indirect sex discrimination provisions.
• Employment Appeal Tribunal precedent · case where shared male toilets without locks or sanitary bins found inherently discriminatory.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 · legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37/contents · general duty of care.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Email us at hello@kilnguides.co.uk.

In crisis? Samaritans 116 123 · Mental health support

How this site is funded →