By Corry Anderson-Fennell, For the Now-Leader
Construction workers are getting flushed, and Al Phillips has had enough.
“The unsanitary and primitive conditions of unplumbed washroom facilities are the norm for most construction sites, and the reality faced by our members on a daily basis,” said Phillips, business manager for the United Association Local 170, headquartered on Annacis Island. “Workers are ‘getting flushed’ and that needs to change.”
Phillips is also president of the 40,000-member BC Building Trades, representing skilled tradespeople across the province. Earlier this year, BCBT commissioned a leading occupational health and safety consulting firm, the Harwood Safety Group, to review sanitation practices in construction.
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| BC Building Trades president Al Phillips. (Photo submitted) |
The report not only found that in B.C., the industry’s reliance on portable, non-plumbed washroom facilities – porta-potties – to be “wholly inadequate,” but that the regulations that require flush toilets for construction workers are routinely violated.
In fact, only in exceptional circumstances when plumbed facilities cannot be provided “because of the nature of the workplace” should porta-potties be permitted. The report found there is little in “the nature of the workplace” that prevents the use of trailered, washroom units equipped with flush toilets.
Buoyed by the report, BCBT launched a public awareness campaign, dubbed Get Flushed, to prompt WorkSafeBC to start enforcing existing legislation, while Phillips’s UA Local 170, whose members include plumbers, launched a parallel campaign called Pipe Up.
“It is entirely feasible for most construction worksites to provide facilities connected to mains, water and drainage systems,” he said. “Or, at the very least, to have portable trailered plumbed washrooms.”
Phillips pointed out that some sites do offer mobile, trailered flush toilets and even fully plumbed facilities that are connected to infrastructure – but only for the managers.
“What message does that send? That we care about the sanitation needs of the managers, but not the trades? It also proves flush units are practical when the contractor wants them to be practical.”
As far as Phillips is concerned, proper washroom facilities are as essential as hard hats, steel-toe boots and safety harnesses.
Washroom trailers have hot and cold running water, and heat and illumination. These are the optimal conditions for effective cleaning and disinfection. Biological hazards that may be present in poorly maintained portable washrooms include both Hepatitis A and COVID-19.
As horrific as porta-potties are in general, they are uniquely problematic for people who menstruate and must change intimate hygiene products. In an industry trying to attract women and other underrepresented groups, porta-potties are not exactly a welcome mat.
“This is the main reason I left flagging and first aid,” said Jessie, a former construction worker who asked to remain anonymous.
“I need clean hands when I go for lunch. Also, I menstruate. I need clean hands to manage that.”
z Add your voice by signing the petition online at getflushed.ca.
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