Teen’s bid for work loos to be accessible

Thirteen-year-old Nicole Thornton has described her daily bathroom battles to a Parliament select committee.

The Lower Hutt teenager, who lives with Crohn’s disease, made headlines last year when she presented a 3000-strong petition to Labour MP Trevor Mallard, asking for the right to use the toilets of any nearby workplace.

Nicole returned to Parliament yesterday for a health select committee hearing, sharing her experience of living with the disease and her reasons why the Government should turn her petition into legislation.

Mallard, now Speaker of the House, presented her with a certificate before the pair headed into the hearing.

When she was 8, Nicole was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Her body’s immune system attacks healthy cells, causing serious inflammation and, on bad days, a desperate need to use a toilet.

‘‘It can be a scary thing,’’ she told the committee.

‘‘I spent a lot of time in the toilet and distracted myself by reading books and talking to myself.’’

She had been through a lot in the past five years but could not imagine anything worse than being out with friends and having an accident because a store owner would not allow her to use the bathroom, she said.

Her petition calls for people with debilitating health conditions such as Crohn’s, colitis and multiple sclerosis, and for pregnant women, to be able to access workplace bathrooms.

Gastroenterologist and University of Otago associate professor Dr Michael Schultz said about 75 per cent of sufferers have problems timing their visits to the bathroom.

‘‘This is interrupting their life.’’

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment representative Karl Woodhead said the ministry did not support legislative measures requiring business to give toilet access.

‘‘We think that for businesses, one of the key issues they would face is around perceptions of liability in terms of workplace safety.’’

Businesses may be worried about costs being passed on if they need to improve their facilities and smaller businesses may not have enough staff to cover their counter or keep services running if someone needs to be escorted to the bathroom.

Instead, Woodhead suggested working on an education campaign, letting business owners know how to deal with situations people like Nicole found themselves in.

An estimated 20,000 Kiwis have Crohn’s disease or colitis, another inflammatory bowel disease. One in five of those are children.

Following the hearing, the health select committee will put together a report for Parliament.