Complicated toilet based Covid problem

[KatyMac]

So a venue is opening up (not mine I have been asked for advise)

There are 3 toilets in a corridor with no room to socially distance and an external door

How do people outside the door know if the toilets are empty and they can go in or busy and they need to wait outside to enter

Everything I have come up with requires touching (blackboard and chalk, numbered tag, sliding in/out labels)

Anyone come up with anything clever?

Staff monitor I'm afraid, no other option really.

They open the door-look and if they aren’t free then they wait outside?

That’s what I’d do if I found myself needing the toilet at said venue

There would have to be a lock on the external door I think.

Yes going and checking is a viable option
A staff member isn't ideal (small cafe)

Individual loos have a lock, outside door will be unlocked and open

Surely main door needs to have a lock - the engaged /vacant type?

If toilets are in individual 'rooms' which need a light in in them to be used, get a sparkie to put an additional light outside above each door which comes on with the interior light. May also want to make the cubicle lights motion sensor too, so that there is no need for public to turn lights on and off.

in in = on in

Occupants have to sing whilst cubicle is in use. If it's quiet it's safe to use.

@Seeline

Occupants have to sing whilst cubicle is in use. If it's quiet it's safe to use.

Excellent suggestion😂

Do you have a budget? As rlsys suggests, something electrical/digital could work. E.g. a sign outside the main door that detects whether the lock is closed/something sensor based? Just thinking about things like train toilets that show if it’s vacant or not, so the tech exists...

In a small cafe, with only limited numbers allowed inside anyway, I'd say the chances of three people using the loo at the same time are small.

It really will have to be down to the staff to police.

Anyway there's hardly a huge Covid risk from someone sticking their head round the door to see if a cubicle is free.

Eg a quick google gave me this (looks like tech used for accessible toilets ) www.directaccessautomation.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1202&language=en&currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAjw34n5BRA9EiwA2u9k3x2oeXKW04oIf3jrKaO2_ZHRUJ3TrkRmfq7fWBEmmeh2kaUUzdHDJRoCC_0QAvD_BwE

Both eateries I have visited have put a lock on the outside door

Eateries I’ve visited have said one bubble inside only and a lock on the outside door. This makes sense to me.

They’re possibly overthinking it as I imagine the chances of 3 loos at a small cafe all being in use at once and a 4th person waiting are really quite low. However, just in case then stick up a sign saying something like ‘to ensure social distancing, if all loos are busy then please wait outside and not in the corridor, thank you’.

McDonalds just had one of the two cubicals taped off and a sign saying one person at a time. (I didn't think that two chilren was any logicistal difference on that technicality.

It's unlikely to be on a problematic scale in a small cafe. If the toilet had been clearly occupied from the main door, I'd have backed out.

This is all fab stuff particularly @Seeline singing works

I'll pass on all the ideas - so informed choices can be made

They should only sing quietly though as I think singing is still technically on the forbidden list (unless you have all the windows open) 😆

Yes only professional singers can sing

The rules are inconsistent

I think you just put a sign on the door saying only one family bubble in the toilet area at a time. I went to a cafe that had that the other day. The door was wedged open (not sure if it usually is or not) and you just poked your head in to see if it was free. I think it's fine for people to push open a door, see it's busy then back out and wait.

At work we have a stand with a board which we can swap from occupied to vacant..there is a picture which relates to which loo its for (ladies, mens and disabled). It has a shelf for hand sanitiser.

The user is expected to sanitise then change to occupied and same on way out and change to vacant. Seems to work well but not sure how it would work with customers rather than employees

I've been to a place which had some wristbands (like coloured swimming wristbands) outside in a bucket of Milton. If there was a wristband in the bucket, pick it up and take it in with you to the empty cubicle. If not, wait till someone comes out and drops it into the bucket of Milton.....

I went somewhere that had an engaged/vacant sign to flip on the outer door. Hand sanitisers in the loo and outside the door.

raspberry pi + sensors + monitor or light.