Reopening your Changing Places toilet safely after Lockdown

Reopening your Changing Places toilet safely after Lockdown

Now that restrictions are lifting, it’s time to start opening up again and your Changing Places toilets should be no exception.

To reopen safely, you just need to follow the same precautions as with your standard toilets, so if they’re open then your Changing Places toilet should be open too.

Here are some simple steps to ensuring a safe reopening:

1.       Maintenance

• Ensure all equipment is present and in good working order, and that any toilets missing lids have one fitted.
• Ensure all equipment has recently been tested and service warranties have been checked for dates of expiration.
• Ensure all locks are checked and maintained.
• Keep hand soap and paper towels topped up at all times.

2.       Signage

As well as clear Changing Places toilet signs, you may need to provide additional signage if access routes have changed or to clearly mark separate queuing areas.

When creating signs, consider the following:

Colour: The text colour should contrast with the background to make it easy to read. However, black and white can be too high contrast for those with neurodivergent profiles (such as dyslexia or visual stress), instead consider black on a pastel background.

Font: Use sans serif text and avoid block capitals. Block capitals can be difficult to read for those who are partially sighted or blind.

Braille signs: Make sure to clean touch surfaces regularly.

3.       Increased Cleaning

You’ll already have implemented this for your standard toilets, so you just need to follow the same cleaning routine for your Changing Places toilet.

Ideally toilets will be cleaned after each use, pragmatically cleaning should occur at least once an hour

The hourly cleaning should focus on touch surfaces:

• Bleach the toilet bowl
• Wipe clean toilet seat (all surfaces);
• Wipe clean taps, grab rails, toilet paper dispenser, soap dispenser and all surfaces around them;
• Wipe clean door handles and surrounding areas;
• Wipe clean any braille or embossed signs and surfaces.

The toilets should also be completely cleaned at least once a day – including floors and walls – just like standard public toilets.

Followed the guide and ready to reopen?

• Make sure your opening hours and contact details are up to date on the Changing Places Toilet map
• Don’t forget to inform us of any changes so that we can keep the information up to date for the public.
• Finally, and vitally, make sure all staff are aware of what a Changing Places toilet is and where it is. That way everyone is prepared for dealing with any enquiries and you can feel confident in welcoming people back to an inclusive and accessible space.

If you have any questions about reopening safely, or are looking for further guidance, you can get in touch with us on changingplaces@musculardystrophyuk.org and we’ll be happy to support you.