Workplace Report July 2009

Health & safety news

Railways caught short on toilet provision

Toilet facilities for drivers are so bad on Britain’s railways that drivers often carry an empty plastic bottle, ASLEF train drivers’ union has said.

The union said some freight depots only have a portaloo at the entrance, which can be four miles away. And however poor the conditions are for men, they are twice as bad for women.

Keith Norman, ASLEF general secretary, said: “It proves to our less progressive colleagues that fighting for equal opportunities often benefits us all. We argue for toilet facilities for women and the knock-on is an improvement in the facilities for men.”