They’re a regular subject of complaint at camp grounds, music festivals and public events — but for some B.C. workers they’re an everyday part of life.
Now a construction union representing more than 40,000 workers is calling on the B.C. government to ban porta-potties in favour of flush toilets on job sites with more than 25 employees.
“I do want to be clear that better is possible,” said Brynn Bourke, executive director of the B.C. Building Trades Council.
“We have seen film, and entertainment and tourism find better washroom facilities. Mobile sites can have clean flush toilets.”
The union has been pushing for flush toilets in the industry for two years, since the COVID-19 pandemic put greater health and sanitation issues in the spotlight.
But Bourke said there has been little uptake from the industry side, and argued that the pandemic showed that nothing will change without the province stepping in.
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“So that when people prepare bids, when people are making decisions about investing in major projects, that those new facilities are understood and so that everyone is competing on a level playing field,” she said.
Bourke said workers deserve a clean and dignified place to do their business, adding that proper facilities could help draw workers into an industry currently facing a labour shortage.
She pointed to Quebec, which implemented similar regulations in 2015, as a potential road map.
B.C. Future Skills Minister Selina Robinson agreed that workers deserve quality bathroom facilities, but suggested instead that the industry take the lead on implementing any changes.
“I invite the industry itself to take it on,” she said.
“Why would you wait to be mandated to treat your workers with dignity and respect? So I would urge all employers to make sure they have operational clean facilities for all of their workers.”
But Peter White, a construction worker with 14 years in the industry under his belt, told Global News most contractors do the “bare minimum” when it comes to on-site facilities, noting that even the existing porta-potties are often poorly maintained.
“They stink, you walk in there and you just want to vomit instantly. And its something that a lot of contractors just kind of forget about,” he said.
White said there was some improvement during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the form of proper hand-washing stations, but that most vanished after various health restrictions were dropped.
He pointed, in contrast, to major resource projects he’d worked on in northern B.C. with portable bathroom facilities that included flush toilets, heat and water, as an example of what was possible.
“They have wash carts out there and when they were brought in, it changes the outfit a lot. It brought up the atmosphere for a lot of workers,” he said.
WorkSafeBC, meanwhile, told Global News in a statement that it was working towards improved washroom facilities for jobsites, and is proposing regulatory changes.