He sometimes had to delay changing a diaper altogether or rely on his wife to change it in the women’s bathroom. The councilman, who has two older children, said that when his kids were babies, he often found he had to change their diapers in the parking lot on the back of his car or on top of a sink counter. “Often, baby changing stations are only available in women’s public restrooms or not at all,” Peláez said. Peláez said an important part of the ordinance is that it’s required in restrooms for men as well as women. “It’s not only about sanitation, but also safety,” he said.īarrios, who’s a father of three, all adults now, said he has baby-changing stations in both men’s and women’s bathrooms of his restaurants. Louis Barrios, president and CEO of Los Barrios family restaurants, said he is happy with this new requirement. Peláez said the San Antonio Restaurant Association and San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association were “enthusiastically supportive” of the new ordinance. A restroom without a baby-changing station is considered to be in compliance if there’s another bathroom or designated area with a station on the same floor and there’s “clear and visible signage” on the restroom without a station indicating the location of the restroom that has one.Īppeals would go to the City Council-appointed Building-Related and Fire Codes Appeals and Advisory Board, whose members made up the Baby-Changing Station Subcommittee that researched and helped draft the ordinance. There also is an exception to the new law. The final ordinance answered that concern by allowing for appeals in such cases, city officials said. According to a presentation by Michael Shannon, the city’s Development Services Director, a baby-changing station plus installation costs $450 to $1,000.ĭuring public hearings on the proposed ordinance last year, concerns were raised that some existing small businesses have small bathrooms where adding a baby-changing station could take away from the space required by the federal American with Disabilities Act, forcing the business to undertake expensive bathroom remodeling to comply with both laws. The ordinance applies to new and existing buildings that have public restrooms or provide services to the public, including hospitals, hotels, theaters, malls, restaurants and stores.Ī station is defined as a safe and sanitary table or deck that can hold a child weighing up to 50 pounds. “That’s only because whatever restaurant, hotel or business he was in didn’t have a baby-changing station in that restroom.” “All of you have driven through parking lots and seen that poor guy in the back of his truck or the back of the van, changing a baby,” said Councilman Manny Peláez, who proposed the idea last year. The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Thursday that requires all publicly available restrooms - for men and women - to have baby-changing stations. In virtually any reasonably modern place, you will be accompanied to the multipurpose room (多目的室) you had not noticed.It’s not an uncommon scene, but now the city is trying to make it a thing of the past. My son (daughter) needs a diaper change where can I do it? This Q&A thread on the website of the Yomiuri advises to only do it as a last resort, and even then only after obtaining the staff's permission, which I suppose seems reasonable. Try as I may, I cannot find a single Japanese news report of it ever causing a problem (and, in particular, subtantiating any of the stories found on obscure forums such as this one). When leaving, do the same but in the past sense ( shitsurei itashimashita). An apology ( shitsurei itashimasu) and a bow are usually de rigueur, but as a foreigner you could dispense with them. If you do encounter such a case, though, it's not different than elsewhere. It is quite rare these days (even inside trains) for the changing tables to be in the women's section, usually they will be somewhere in between the two sections, or inside the separate large restroom with the wheelchair icon (yes, you can use it too).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |