The Restroom Laws Movement

So I’ve decided to put together a presentation about a major discrepancy in the United States Federal government. It turns out that OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), a division of DOL (Department of Labor) places regulations on most employers to ensure that people in the workplace — including teachers at public schools — will not suffer the adverse health effects that can result if toilets are not available. DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services), however, does not provide any similar regulation for the students who attend these public schools, as well as transit passengers, and people in other public places.

Quoted from the about page at the DHHS website, “The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.” Either DHHS is lying through their teeth, or they are not adhering to their own stated responsibilities to the American public. The restroom regulations that OSHA places on employers are supported by research published by the National Institutes of Health, which is an agency of DHHS. Just to spell it out, DHHS is ignoring their own research that would help them comply with their own mandate to “protect the health of all Americans… especially for those who are least able to help themselves.” Compulsory students — most of whom are under age 18 and lack a lot of legal control over their own lives — are some of those people least able to help themselves.

In the coming weeks, I will be putting together a presentation that will go into much more detail about this discrepancy in the United States Federal government, discuss who this problem affects and how, and explain how we can tie this gap shut. Stay tuned, you won’t want to miss this!

While you wait, check out the memorandum compiled for OSHA (available at their website) to explain their position on their requirement for employers to provide their employees with toilet facilities. It’s a relatively quick read, and you’ll likely be surprised at just how important OSHA understands it is for people to have adequate access to toilet facilities.