Things to consider when organising an event

It is essential that there are enough toilets and hand washing facilities for the numbers of people expected at your event.

When planning the provision of facilities, you will need to consider:

• How long the event will last
• Expected audience food and fluid consumption
• Numbers of children, elderly people, and people with special needs
• Weather conditions and temperature
• Facilities for employees and event workers

Guidelines for calculating the numbers of facilities needed are shown below (these are provided by the Health and Safety Executive).

These are guidelines only - the numbers may be too high for short events, or too low for events where fluid consumption is expected to be high, or for events where there will be camping.

For events with a gate opening time of six hours or more:

• one toilet per 100 females
• one toilet per 500 males, plus one urinal per 150 males

For events with a gate opening time of less than six hours:

• one toilet per 120 females
• one toilet per 600 males, plus one urinal per 175 males

It is recommended that one toilet with hand washing facilities is provided per 75 people with special needs.

You should:

• Where possible, provide one hand washing facility per five toilets, with no less than one per 10 toilets
• Supply suitable, clearly identifiable, designated containers for sanitary towels or nappies, if there is any possibility that they may block facilities
• Make sure that facilities are regularly serviced throughout the event so that they are safe, clean and hygienic for public use
• Make sure that Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999 (COSHH) assessments are available to cover all cleaning and deodorising products used