Company designs tilted toilet so employees are forced to keep bathroom breaks to just 5 minutes or less
Companies desperate to boost employee productivity may soon turn to a new type of toilet which its developers insist will reduce the amount of time an employee spends in the bathroom because of its unique design.
The 'StandardToilet,' which has been designed and produced by a Staffordshire-based startup of the same name, will be sloped forward by about 13 degrees to increase the strain on the legs and ensure the people using it will become uncomfortable if they spend more than five minutes sitting on it.
Mahabir Gill, the developer of the toilet, said they would be targeting corporate offices with the product to help them boost their productivity, according to the Daily Mail.
"It is estimated that in the United Kingdom alone, extended employee breaks costs industry and commerce a £4 billion ($5.2 billion) per annum," he revealed. "With the advent of flexible zero-hour contracts it is easy to see why our StandardToilet can be an asset to a business."
The angled design means the strain on the legs is similar to that of a gentle squat thrust, and Gill said it would provide health and wellbeing benefits through improved posture, as well as by encouraging spending less time in the bathroom.
"Medical studies have suggested that using the traditional WC can cause swollen hemorrhoids and weakening of pelvic muscles," he said. "The StandardToilet provides Increased comfort through promoting the engagement of upper and lower leg muscles which helps reduce musculoskeletal disorders."
He also assured that the 13-degree angle was not too steep and that it was specifically designed that way so "you'd soon want to get off the seat."
The 'StandardToilet' has been backed by the British Toilet Association (BTA), a group that campaigns for better bathroom facilities in offices and public spaces, and has already attracted interest from local councils and motorway services.
The toilet, which will be priced in the $195 - $650 range, however, does have its detractors as well. Charlotte Jones, co-author of the Around the World toilet project told Wired that it was a damning indictment on the work culture that is promoted these days.
"Viewing time spent in the toilet as a threat is the wrong way of looking at the issue entirely," she said. "I think the importance of the toilet as a refuge during the workday says more about inadequate workspaces, heavy workloads, and unsupportive management than it does about the workers themselves."
Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler, assistant professor of design history at Purdue University in Indiana, was similarly scathing in her view of the toilet.
"In an office, the one space you have where you can find privacy is often the toilet," she said. "So, god forbid that we want to make the one place where workers should have at least some autonomy – the toilet – another place where people impose the very capitalist idea that people should always be working."