The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #73728

Robyn Robbins, Occupational Safety and Health Office, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, 1775 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20037, 202-994-0774, rrobbins@ufcw.org

Prior to 1998, the right of workers who worked in general industry to go to the bathroom was not clearly spelled out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA. The OSHA standard that requires employers to provide employees with toilet facilities does not explicitly say that employers must allow workers to use the toilet facilities. The problem of access to the bathroom for workers has been, and continues to be, a problem in a wide variety of industries. In 1998, Federal OSHA issued a memorandum of interpretation of the Toilet Facilities standard, stating, in part, that "this standard requires employers to make toilet facilities available so that employees can use them when they need to do so. The employer may not restrict worker access to use the bathroom." This session will describe the year long effort of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to uphold this right and to work within the regulatory system as well as publicly through the use of the media and public opinion.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the session, participants will be able to (
• describe the safety and health issues related to bathrooms breaks; (
• discuss the roles that unions play in protecting workers' rights; (
• describe OSHA's regulatory process; (
• understand how the general public can play a role in protecting and advocating for workers' rights to a safe workplace.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.