Will the 'Inbun Apartment' Disappear? LH Expands Convenience Facilities Including Bathrooms and Showers

Inspection of Convenience Facility Operations and Planned Facility Enhancements

Convenience facilities such as showers and changing rooms, restrooms, break rooms, portable urinals, and sinks will be expanded at construction sites managed by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).

On the 7th, LH announced, "We are taking steps to expand and strengthen the management of convenience facilities for construction workers to improve their working environment."

In 2020, LH improved the standards for installing convenience facilities based on surveys of workforce attendance and worker preferences at housing construction sites.

Appearance of convenience facilities (restrooms) for workers at LH construction site

The previously unified standards for installing convenience facilities have been segmented according to workforce attendance to provide facilities suited to each site’s conditions. LH explained that improvements to the work environment are being made, such as adding air-conditioned break rooms and installing air conditioners in container restrooms.

Since July, LH has been inspecting the operation and management status of convenience facilities at construction sites through comprehensive surveys. The investigation will be completed in August, and solutions will be developed to address issues and inconveniences identified by workers.

For sites that do not meet the installation standards for convenience facilities, LH plans to identify the difficulties faced by workers and reinforce facilities tailored to each site to reduce inconvenience.

On the 5th, LH President Kim Hyun-jun visited an LH apartment construction site in Gyeonggi Province to conduct a special inspection of worker convenience facilities. President Kim said, "Please actively cooperate with contractors to provide convenience facilities that reflect workers’ opinions and maintain cleanliness so that there are no inconveniences in performing tasks on site."

Shower room

Meanwhile, controversy over so-called "excrement apartments" has recently spread after plastic bags containing human waste were found on ceilings and walls of newly built apartments.

In this regard, the National Construction Workers’ Union filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission on the 26th of last month, requesting improvements to construction site convenience facilities and targeting the Ministry of Employment and Labor and Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).

The Construction Workers’ Union said, "We apologize as construction workers for the recent discovery of human waste in the ceilings of new apartments," adding, "However, we hope the reasons behind such issues will also be investigated."

According to a survey conducted by the Construction Workers’ Union from June 23 to July 8 at 23 LH construction sites, an average of 172 workers are deployed per site, but there are only about 2.5 break rooms on average. They also claimed that 21.7% of the break rooms lack air conditioning, with an average of 2.5 restrooms and 1.7 washbasins per site.

Kang Han-su, Chair of the Labor Safety and Health Committee of the Construction Workers’ Union, said, "Construction sites often have an insufficient number of restrooms, which are frequently located far away," adding, "There are many places where workers hesitate to go to the restroom, and sometimes they end up relieving themselves inside buildings out of desperation." He appealed, "Please allow us to relieve ourselves with dignity as human beings."