Here’s a topic that’s a little delicate in nature…but when "nature calls," what do you do? If you are like most people, you proceed to the appropriate room and do your thing. No questions asked.
Unless you happen to be a woman in a building that does not have a separate restroom for women. If it’s a unisex or gender-neutral facility, everyone is okay. No permission needed. However, if you happen to be a woman in a male-dominated building with a multi-porcelain room, the chance of having a designated restroom for women or even one woman, is pretty slim. So when you need to use the bathroom, you need to ask permission. Seriously? It’s 2015, folks.
Forty-three years ago, when I worked for United Parcel Service, I was the first female customer service representative they hired to work in the northern Illinois centers. Back then, UPS was only in 26 states and only men loaded and drove the brown trucks (called “package cars”).
Consequently, there were no toilet facilities for women in the local UPS centers. The center managers I worked with agreed to put a lock on the bathroom door, but when I needed to use it, I had to ask a supervisor or one of the drivers to check and see if the stalls were empty before I could go in. It was a bit embarrassing, but not as much as when the men would push on the door to get in and find it locked. I would then exit past scowling faces waiting to go in.
I put up with it because I thought it was part of the transition to being a woman in a male-dominated industry. Compared to some of the bigger challenges I faced at UPS, it was low on the list, plus, I was only in the center for a short time in the mornings and evenings.
Forty-three years ago, that’s what women did if they wanted to work in a male-dominated industry. But pick an industry or profession that is still solely made up of men? Times have indeed changed.
At a recent fire conference, a captain said that when she was a firefighter and needed to use the bathroom while on shift, she had to ask the captain’s permission to use the restroom in his office and was designated for female firefighters. In the evenings, he made it known that he did not like being disturbed when they asked to use the restroom. Not sure if she was joking, but she said it was one of the reasons she became a captain--so she could have access to the bathroom without asking permission.
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) Gender Guidelines state that separate restroom facilities designated for men and women (given that at least one member of each sex is employed at the business) must be available in the workplace. However, the business with 15 or fewer employees can have a one-person, unisex restroom, permitting that it locks and contains at least one toilet.
Many fire departments with office administrative staff have facilities for women that can be used by all women personnel. Sub-stations, older buildings or volunteer departments may not have separate facilities for men and women, but it is time to address the issue of bathrooms, restrooms, WCs or whatever you call them. Many new fire stations we’ve seen are including multiple, individual restrooms with showers that can be used by either men or women, versus the large men’s rooms with urinals, toilets and locker rooms.
Being a firefighter or EMT -- man or woman -- is hard work and you’re dealing with some pretty drastic scenarios, but to return to the station and have to ask to use the restroom—seriously?
Asking for clearance or permission to use the restroom is demeaning and a reminder of childhood and asking permission from adults. When part of your personnel can "go" when they need to while others must call attention to their needs, I think that’s crappy.
How would you feel if the situation was reversed and women held the keys to the porcelain room?
Yeah, I thought so.
