This was a problem encountered at a major London rail terminusmany years ago. Some station cleaning staff were 'squatting' on the toilets, this being their Culture

The answer is quite simple - replace some of the broken toilets with 'Turkish Toilets' [French Footsteps] so you have a mix of toilets.

This was done at the station - no further problems

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The changes were [allegedly] 'triggered when a member of staff breaking his ankle when he squatted on a 'normal' toilet, and his foot slippes into the bowl]

I'd never heard of this in my life despite being HR as well as H&S but a quick search on the internet brought this up as a potential solution and not very expensive

http://www.squattypotty.com/

Thanks for all the advice.

Its been another one of those topics which keeps intruding into time; despite being very very low down on the priorites list.

Alot of the time it seems that the workforce want us to be the silly little officialdom of H&S Myths fame when it suits them.

The amount of people who boher me about toilets & toasters ! Grrrr

During the early 1980s I went on a group walking holiday along part of the Pyrenees. Most of the mountain huts we stayed at, and also the cheapo restaurant where we dined in Toulouse, had footprint type loos. Afterwards while discussing aspects of the holiday with a medical friend I commented that such conveniences weren't very convenient to use. Her response was that such facilities were actually better for people because squatting to defecate was anatomically preferable to a sitting position, i.e. by promoting effective expulsion of faeces with minimal muscle strain. Viewers of the website for the Squatty Potty product quoted by fscott at #4 are left in no doubt whatsoever about the significance of the puborectalis muscle in this matter! As an aside, I wonder if this topic will appeal to forum viewers keen to extend their repertoire of interesting and unusual subjects to raise in discussion. If so, it's probably best to ignore the product slogan "Big results with a little stool" with its abject humour based on alternative meanings of "stool". :-(

p.s. To provide some balance to my above criticism of French sanitation it's appropriate to add that members of our group agreed that the bidets in the bathrooms of our hotel at the end of the walk were excellent for washing and soothing our tired feet after a descent of about 4000ft in hot weather! :-)

p.p.s. A geographical and historical note: Though the thread title "Loos" is used as a slang/colloquial term for toilets, it's also a town in Northern France where, in Autumn 1915, the biggest offensive by the British Army on The Western Front was mounted during WW1. Sadly, through inadequate prior shelling of enemy lines, poor communications and British chlorine gas blowing back and debilitating British soldiers with inadequate gas masks (PPE), the offensive proved to be unsuccessful.

Excellent exposition Graham B!

The "squat" toilet has nothing directly to do with ethnic origin, culture nor mixed beliefs - it's about the most efficient & cheap means of doing what you've got to do; coupled with the hardest obstacles to address - "we've always done it this way" and perceptions about cleanliness [which may be linked to other beliefs].

The history of the modern [post Greek/Roman] toilet and waste disposal is fascinating and illustrates how much resistance there has been to even minor changes in public perception and provision.

Personally, I follow the Bear!!

Frank Hallett

Pretty much all of the alternatives to the "traditional" [about 150yrs ago] British design are far more hygienic and most don't require the toilet paper - just the means to cleanse!

And why a separate bidet?? My, that's posh & French!

If you're really into it, research the standard Germanic/Nordic models between the 2 WWars.

And what's wrong with a walk in the woods Bear-spotting LB?

Frank Hallett

I'm just glad that the practice of slaughtering lambs and human sacrifice etc. Has died out in Swansea.

Hi nimble057 - what Alan Haynes says is spot on. I worked with a business which had over three dozen factories in the UK where standard loos kept being broken as outlined by Alan. Each factory then included a suitable amount of the footstep variety and problem sorted...........

However, as an aside, a couple of weeks ago had a call from a client of mine..... one of the employees has put in a claim for bad back issue - stated that it is because the loo seats are too low. I know....... I didn't believe it either. Personally I thought all normal loos were to a standard.

Hi Zimmy - I am reliably informed that just normal bodily functions are carried out on the loo. Which at least is some comfort..... or not as in this situation.