LANSING - With a little pressure from the building trades, this may be the best chance yet to improve the sanitary conditions on Michigan's construction sites.

In past years this paper has championed the cause of getting more well-maintained portable toilets on construction sites, and just as importantly, requiring the placement of hand washing stations or at least hand sanitizers close to portable toilets on jobsites. There has been little action on the matter - until now - and our state's lawmakers are going to need a push from our readers to do the right thing.

"Frankly, this effort is being driven by the portable toilet industry," said Todd Tennis of Capitol Services, a lobbyist for the IBEW and Mid-Michigan Construction Alliance. "We saw the legislation, put it on our watch list, and we didn't think it would be controversial. But the ABC (the anti-union Associated Builders and Contractors) and the home builders weighed in and squawked that it's unnecessary regulation and is going to increase costs. But the added costs are actually very small."

House Bill 5064 - Sanitary Facilities on Construction Sites - would increase the quantity and quality of toilet facilities on construction sites. The bill would increase the number of toilets to one for every 10 workers. Current state regulations call for a minimum requirement of one toilet for a jobsite with 1-20 workers, two toilets for sites with 21-40 workers, and an additional toilet for each 40 workers after that.

One advantage to having a higher ratio of toilets is that they're likely to remain cleaner, longer.

The bill's sponsor is Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing). He introduced the measure after having a garage built on his property Up North last year.

"At one point I asked how things were going, and the workers said 'other than having to go to the bathroom in the woods, pretty good,' " Meadows said. "A light bulb went off. The subcontractor eventually got a porta-potty on the site, but it got me to thinking that it wasn't right for workers, and it must be affecting productivity when workers are wandering around looking for a bathroom. Plus there are gender issues, when you stop to consider the severe disadvantage women in the trades have under those circumstances."

Tennis wrote in a position paper that an often-used loophole in state regulations allows a contractor to classify a work crew as "mobile," negating the requirement for any jobsite toilets. Thus a group of homebuilding construction workers in a subdivision who need to relieve themselves usually must find the nearest fast food outlet, or some nearby tall bushes, because a portable toilet isn't required.

"They designate crews as 'mobile' even if they're in the same place for three months," Tennis said.

There are currently very limited state requirements for the placement of alcohol-based hand sanitizers or hand washing stations near portable toilets on construction sites. The existing statewide rule only requires washing facilities be available to employees engaged in the application of paint, coatings, herbicides, or insecticides or in other operations where contaminants may be harmful to employees.

And the sanitary condition of many portable toilets is often simply ignored, and sometimes toilet paper can't be found.

"What's really important about this legislation is that it puts penalties into the law for contractors if they don't have hand washing facilities, or if they don't maintain their toilets," Tennis said.

According the Michigan House legislative analysis on the bill, the typical monthly rental cost for a standard portable toilet runs between $85-$95. Sink stations are about $185 a month, hand sanitizers, $100. On the high end, a 16-foot restroom trailer costs about $1,250 a month.

Meadows said one homebuilder testified before the state Regulatory Reform Committee that not having a portable toilet on site could cost $2,400 a week in lost productivity, with workers leaving the jobsite, looking for a place to go.

Still, the vote on that committee to improve the portable toilet situation was only adopted along party lines, with majority Democrats in favor and minority Republicans opposed. "There's a different viewpoint from that side of the aisle," Meadows said, adding that he expects the measure to pass the full House, perhaps by the end of May, with some Republican support.

A stronger standard for portable toilets on jobsites was almost adopted by federal OSHA earlier this decade. The effort began under the Clinton Administration, but withered away when President Bush's appointees moved in. The argument that OSHA had more important life-and-death issues to consider won the day, and a better portable toilet standard has fallen by the wayside.

Scott Schneider, Director of Occupational Safety and Health for the Laborers' Health and Safety Fund of North America, said "improving sanitation on construction sites is a critical issue for members. It is important to help prevent illnesses among workers as well as an issue of treating them with dignity. It is also hard to recruit people into the trades and it is even harder if the conditions they have to work under include unclean toilets and no place to clean up before lunch or after work."

A fitting quote from earlier this decade came from Mark Erlich, a New England carpenter and an author on labor issues. He said comparing bathroom conditions on today's construction sites to general sanitation in the era of King Arthur isn't accurate. "That's medieval," he said. "You're talking construction. We're in the Stone Age."

Get ready to make calls, send messages for better toilet standard

LANSING - House Bill 5064 - "Sanitary Facilities on Construction Sites" - has been OK'd in committee and is currently on the House floor, where it looks good for passage by majority Democrats.

But…the bill faces a less certain future in the Republican-controlled Senate. "We send so much legislation related to labor over there, and nothing moves," said State Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing). "The Senate doesn't seem to take up anything that might be considered pro-labor."

When the bill does make it to the Michigan Senate, we will be back with information to contact your state senator.

At least two Republican lawmakers are treating this legislation as a joke. One suggested that football schedules be posted on the inside of portable toilets. Another actually took the time to write this amendment to the bill, slamming unions at the same time.

The amendment by Rep. Ken Horn, R-Saginaw Twp., reads: "Amend page 2, following line 13, by inserting: "A collective bargaining unit must provide its members with instruction on the sanitary use of a toilet facility. These instructional classes are to be administered by the collective bargaining unit in cooperation with the Department of Community Health."

If you would like to personally comment on Rep. Horn's amendment, his office phone number is (517) 373-0837. His e-mail address is kennethhorn@house.mi.gov.