In a recent CAL-OSHA enforcement action a contractor was cited for not having portable toilets and washing facilities on a residential job site.

Although the fines were minimal, a total of $390, the potential implications for having to comply at every residential job site would have been quite costly and burdensome. The contractor’s crews were typically only on a project for about four hours and then only one time, and the contractor insisted it fell within the “mobile crew exception” to the requirement to provide portable toilets and washing facilities. The costs to the contractor, if it did not appeal, would have been quite expensive and burdensome. The only feasible way to comply would have been to purchase or rent portable units that could be towed from job to job. The contractor would have needed an additional vehicle and driver for each job site (many smaller contractors are still large enough to have small crews working simultaneously at two or more work sites), and that might have put the contractor out of business.

The contractor appealed and continued to maintain that the mobile crew exemption applied. He obviously paid a lot more than the $390 to challenge the citation. On the morning of trial, at the suggestion of the Administrative Law Judge, CAL-OSHA’s attorney agreed to a pre-hearing discussion, and agreed that the exception probably did apply and withdrew the citation.

The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided here, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.