# Sanitation Question: Dish Washing in the Bathroom **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677 "2010-01-12T17:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/21 "2010-01-12T20:35:42Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > You do realize that makes no sense, right? > > Indoor plumbing significantly _reduced_ the risk of oral-fecal contamination. It did not increase the risk. Indeed, but your Mk 1 Hole In The Ground didn’t create any toilet aerosol, which is what I thought the problem was according to the OP. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/22 "2010-01-12T20:51:37Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Because this is General Questions, where we ask general questions. Do you think [Ranchoth](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547314) really wants to have his corpse skeletonized so he can leave it to his next of kin? He’s just curious. **Green Bean** is just curious too. Exactly. I also want some additional ammunition when I bitch and moan to my coworkers, friends, family, and anyone else who can be forced to listen. > [@Wilbo523](#): > > This had to be the brainchild idea of someone with a limited future at your company. The net cost savings of eliminating disposable cups at the coffee stations at the HQ won’t even scratch the surface of costs of a $17 billion company. They should be focusing on extending the payment terms with the company’s top 5 suppliers by just one day, which would have an impact of about 100,000x greater than eliminating disposable cups. Tell me about it. I was thinking about starting a pit thread about this latest round of changes. Minimal savings with a ton of impact on morale. They also took away the milk dispensers and replaced them with non-dairy “creamer.” Barf. The idiocy of the whole thing is one of the reasons I’m so cheesed off. > [@Colophon](#): > > Indeed, but your Mk 1 Hole In The Ground didn’t create any toilet aerosol, which is what I thought the problem was according to the OP. 🙂 Indoor plumbing replaced a larger hazard with a much much smaller one. And we can mitigate the effects of the toilet aerosol in our own homes by closing the lid. Here we can’t. You know, I’m never going to be able to look at your username again without reading it as **[Coliform](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coliform_bacteria)**. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/23 "2010-01-12T20:59:09Z")
Just about every business has a coffee machine - even if it’s just a Mr. Coffee in the back room. Very few of these have kitchens. The standard practice is to wash the mugs in the bathroom sink (which really is usually the only sink in a non-restaurant small business) or wash them at home. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/24 "2010-01-12T21:35:29Z")
I don’t have links to any laws or regulations but you should make a call to the county health department and ask them about it. If they have any handy information, take that plus Cecil’s column that you linked to and try asking the company how the employees should minimize the risk of a nice cup of Fecalspresso if the only option is to wash their mugs in the bathroom. You can suggest that they have a little sink installed near the coffee area. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/25 "2010-01-13T18:01:38Z")
Overheard in the executive washroom: Free coffee and a free mug leads to going on the internet to try to find something to be unhappy about … talk of and health departments and lawyers … somebody’s likely to try to bring OSHA into it … or we could just yank out the coffee machine … maybe replace it with a coin operated one that will turn a profit. ---
**Author:** ![Qwakkeddup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Qwakkeddup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwakkeddup)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/26 "2010-01-15T06:19:28Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Overheard in the executive washroom: Free coffee and a free mug leads to going on the internet to try to find something to be unhappy about … talk of and health departments and lawyers … somebody’s likely to try to bring OSHA into it … or we could just yank out the coffee machine … maybe replace it with a coin operated one that will turn a profit. This is many words from the Wise. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/27 "2010-01-15T14:21:36Z")
What is this “washing” you speak of in relation to coffee cups?? New cups only begin to taste good after they have built up a deep patina throughout their interior. Takes me about a year to get a new one tastin’ right. As to the real OP, I got nuthin’ besides seconding the idea to check with your county Health Dept. Any relevant regs would be local. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/28 "2010-01-15T22:42:25Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > This had to be the brainchild idea of someone with a limited future at your company. The net cost savings of eliminating disposable cups at the coffee stations at the HQ won’t even scratch the surface of costs of a $17 billion company. You’re not considering the cachet of being able to further brand themselves as a “green” company. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/29 "2010-01-16T18:37:20Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > You’re not considering the cachet of being able to further brand themselves as a “green” company. What green means will undoubtedly change as the water crisis comes upon us. Then we will all be buying paper everything to avoid the wasteful use of clean water for something as trivial as cleaning our dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/30 "2010-01-17T09:18:19Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Overheard in the executive washroom: Free coffee and a free mug leads to going on the internet to try to find something to be unhappy about … talk of and health departments and lawyers … somebody’s likely to try to bring OSHA into it … or we could just yank out the coffee machine … maybe replace it with a coin operated one that will turn a profit. :rolleyes: Gimme a break. FWIW, I’ve been using my official company mug like a good soldier. And the disgusting coffee from the new machine–_I actually like it better_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677/31 "2010-01-17T09:55:14Z")
Speaking of OSHA, they give no hint about where you can wash eating utensils in [Sanitation - 1910.141](http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9790) which surprises me. Where I work it took us years to develop a policy about smokers because people worried that any policy we came up with could be construed as condoning smoking. I am sure we would feel the same way about instituting a practice that encourages washing eating utensils in a bathroom. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanitation-question-dish-washing-in-the-bathroom/524677.md?page=1)