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An Investigation into Security in Single-Stall Washrooms

University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

The purpose of this report is to explore the best possible methods of decreasing misuse and vandalism in UBC’s single-stall washrooms. This research was prompted by UBC Access and Diversity’s concerns regarding the recent trend of students using single-stall washrooms, mainly the ones located in Koerner Library, as private study rooms. This issue creates problems for other users as a legitimate user may be unable to access proper washroom facilities when needed, should any in the vicinity be taken up by students abusing the space. The conclusions found in this report will also pertain to the limitation of vandalism in UBC’s washroom facilities, although this issue is secondary to the concerns in regards to misuse and therefore research was performed primarily with misuse as the main focus. The proposed solutions are to be simple to implement, relatively inexpensive and in particular will not limit accessibility for any potential users. Therefore this report will be targeting as wide a demographic as possible, including both students and non-students. Three main methods of deterrence were found to be most effective. The first is signage employing positive wording to encourage users to limit their time spent in the washroom and not to vandalise. The second is room lighting tied to a timer set off upon entrance into the washroom. The third is signage indicating clearly the phone numbers and other descriptive information as to who to contact to report vandalism. It was found that due to their incredibly simple premise and their excellent cost to effectiveness ratio, the addition of descriptive signage with positive wording placed in UBC’s single-stall washroom facilities will serve as the absolute best deterrent to misuse and vandalism. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report; University of British Columbia. APSC 262

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0343079

Applied Science, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/