Construction workers getting flushed Campaign aims to improve sanitation practices for construction workers
By Corry Anderson-Fennell
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS are getting flushed, and they’re tired of it. For three months, construction workers from all over B.C. have been sharing horrendous stories about the unacceptable – to put it mildly – conditions of portable toilets on construction sites,” said Brynn Bourke, interim executive director of the BC Building Trades. “We’ve heard everything from 100 workers having to share two filthy toilets on a single site to near-full portable toilets left to bake in the sun until they are rendered completely unusable by anyone.” But those workers and others are piping up. More than 3,000 people have signed a petition demanding better sanitation practices in the construction industry. The petition was part of the BCBT’s “Get Flushed” campaign, which launched in May, and the results are promising: WorkSafeBC has establishing an internal working group to consult with stakeholders and provide recommendations. “Although our preference would have been WorkSafeBC committing to immediately enforce existing occupational health and safety regulations requiring flush toilets, this is still a good sign, and we will keep the pressure on until construction workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve – the same dignity and respect given to workers in other workplaces and industries.” Earlier this year, BCBT commissioned a leading occupational health and safety consulting firm, the Harwood Safety Group, to review sanitation practices in construction in B.C. The report not only found that the industry’s reliance on portable, non- plumbed washroom facilities – porta-potties – to be “wholly
inadequate,” but that the regulations on the books 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 that there is little in “the nature of the workplace” that prevents the use of trailered, washroom units equipped with flush toilets. The report prompted the United Association Local 170, whose members include plumbers, to launch a parallel campaign called Pipe Up. “It is entirely feasible for most construction worksites to provide facilities connected to mains, water and drainage systems,” said UA Local 170 business manager Al Phillips, who is also president of the 40,000-member BCBT. “Or, at the very least, to have portable trailered plumbed washrooms.” Phillips rightly points 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.” Bourke and Phillips emphasize that trailered flush toilets are widely available and affordable, costing as little as $1 a day per worker, to ensure protection from biological hazards. They also note that these units are self-contained thanks to large holding tanks for water, and just need power, which is the first thing brought in on any construction site.
Visit getflushed.ca.
16 | tradetalk Fall 2021
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