"Canadian airport deals with latest threat -- small toilets"

Thursday, December 9, 2004

Airport deals with latest threat -- toilets that lack stature
Ottawa facility moves to replace potties after complaint made to transport
agency
By PAUL WALDIE
Canada - The Toronto Globe and Mail


Never mind terrorism or al-Qaeda, one of Canada's busiest airports has been
grappling with another issue in recent months -- the height of its toilets.

The Ottawa International Airport Authority has spent the past six months
measuring dozens of toilets, replacing some toilets and consulting a team of
experts to determine how high toilets should be. 

The massive effort has been in response to a complaint by a woman with
arthritis who said she had trouble getting off a toilet seat in the
airport's new terminal building, which opened last year. She took her
concerns to the Canadian Transportation Agency, or CTA, which has suggested
that the toilet-height standard should be reviewed.

"This cost us a hell of a lot because the CTA is a quasi-judicial
organization," said a somewhat miffed Paul Benoit, the airport's chief
executive officer. "You try so hard and then you end up with things like
this. But, I mean, I'm glad they didn't tell me to rebuild my airport." 

The saga started last June when Helen O'Grady encountered problems raising
herself off a toilet for the disabled in one of the airport's public
washrooms. Ms. O'Grady has rheumatoid arthritis, which has resulted in hip
and knee replacements. She complained that the toilet was too low.

Standard toilets measure between 355 to 381 millimetres (14 and 15 inches)
from the floor to the top of the seat. That's about 25 mm lower than a
regular chair. According to the Canadian Standards Association, toilets for
disabled people must be between 400 and 460 mm, or 15¾ inches to about 18
inches, from the floor to the seat.

As a result of Ms. O'Grady's complaint, airport officials launched a massive
probe. They surveyed 22 washrooms in the terminal building and measured the
height of 64 toilets for the disabled. They also hired a team of
building-code experts and accessibility consultants to study the issue. 

The investigation revealed that six toilets did not measure up. One was
nearly 50 mm (two inches) too low and the other five were seven millimetres
(about a quarter of an inch) off the CSA standard. All six were replaced. 

Ms. O'Grady told the CTA that she was pleased at the airport's effort, but
she recommended the CSA standard be increased to 533 mm (21 inches) to
accommodate the aging population. Building code officials "should look at
the entire population of individuals with special needs, both disabled and
elderly," Ms. O'Grady, who described herself as elderly, told the CTA.

In a ruling this week, the CTA said "in light of the difficulties
encountered by Ms. O'Grady" it would refer the case and her suggestions to
the CSA for consideration.

Anthony Toderian, a spokesman for the CSA, said Ms. O'Grady's case will be
sent to its "accessible design for the built environment technical committee
for review and comment." The committee has dealt with this issue before and
even considered raising the toilet-height requirement about 10 years ago. It
"elected not to proceed with the proposal because of the wide range of
wheelchair heights," the CTA said in its ruling.

Carmel Desormeaux, an occupational therapist with the Arthritis Society,
said the height of toilets is a "massive issue" for people with arthritis.
"If you ever had a sports injury of the knee and you went to the bathroom,
it's a struggle," she said. "The population is aging and a lot of people
have osteoarthritis and have difficulty with hips and knees."

She noted that toilet makers have picked up on the trend and are offering
models that are about 50 mm higher than normal. "I was renovating my own
bathroom and that's what I was looking for," she said with a laugh. "When I
am 80, I would still like to be able to get off of it."

For Mr. Benoit, the toilet case is one of many issues he has had to tackle
at the airport. He even faced complaints about a giant waterfall in the new
terminal building. "I've had people come to me and say the noise is
horrible, and I've had sight-impaired people come to me and say, 'I love it
because it becomes my focal point in the terminal,' " he said. "The whole
thing in this is, I very much sympathize with everybody that does have a
challenge of any type, but how do you create a facility that meets the needs
of everybody? I don't think you can."


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