Call for railway to improve workers’ toilet access

The chief inspector of railways has called for better toilet facilities to be provided for railway workers, especially train drivers, in the UK.

Writing in the latest Office of Rail and Road (ORR) annual health and safety report, HM chief inspector of railways Ian Prosser has said: “It is unacceptable that the industry fails to provide adequate toilet facilities for staff and indeed this is a legal requirement.

“There is an opportunity for operators to provide shared access to their own facilities and go some way to meeting the human need and dignity requirements of the workforce.”

His call has been echoed by Ed Hodson, chair of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) Railway Group.

Hodson led the technical research for a joint project with the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and Rail Wellbeing Alliance (RWA) that produced a recent guidance document, ‘Guidance on the provision of employee toilet facilities on Great Britain’s railways‘.

“All of us know there are few more distressing things than needing to go to the toilet, but not having the opportunity to do so – imagine being in this predicament not only when you’re working remotely for long hours, but when that work is driving a train. That’s the reality for our train drivers,” said Hodson.

“The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires that significant risks be assessed and that the planning of work should take personal needs breaks into consideration.

“My research, however, showed that such needs are not always met in the UK rail sector and that there are three areas of ‘significant risk’ that can be traced to a lack of access to toilet facilities for our rail workers.”

The three key areas highlighted by the research are:

• Safety risks and consequences. This includes drivers leaving locomotives for emergency relief while it’s not safe to do so; issues of personal safety in isolated locations; adverse hot weather and the threat of dehydration from having to limit fluid intake; anxiety and distraction caused by not being able to go the toilet.
• Health. This includes biological issues, such as menstrual cycle and pregnancy; managing disabilities and the risk of medical conditions, for example the fact that restricting fluid intake can lead to kidney and urinary tract infections; and stress through loss of personal dignity.
• Equality and diversity. This point highlights that railways have an older workforce, and it is common to need to go to the toilet more often as we get older.

A lack of toilet facilities is made even worse for women during their menstrual cycle, Hodson also pointed out. “In researching our report, I discovered many drivers have to use a bag or bottle for an emergency ‘comfort’ break, while some admitted to urinating from a cab or at the side of a track,” he said.

“In Germany, a train driver was found dead with his trousers open, several hundred metres from the train, believed to have fallen out of a 70mph train on opening the locomotive door to relieve himself.

“A hard hat was often used when no other receptacle was available. This kind of ‘making do’ creates stress and anxiety through a loss of dignity and self-esteem, causes unnatural eating and drinking practices that can lead to dehydration and urinary infections, misjudgement and poor decision-making, loss of focus and concentration, rule-breaking and low morale.

“It’s a fact that an ageing, mostly male workforce in this sector has become used to the lack of provision of proper toilet facilities and learnt how to ‘get by’ rather than demand better facilities for all,” he added.

IOSH wants to see rail workers encouraged to report their concerns over toilet facilities through existing channels. These are: through their line manager, safety representative or the confidential reporting service for transport and infrastructure CIRAS.