VEST Hackathon - Taking on the Porta-Potty

Hosted by the department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, this 2-day event to work with other industry members, students, and faculty to redesign the porta-potty so it better considers the needs of the construction community’s increasingly diverse workforce. The traditional porta-potty as currently designed can cause health and sanitation concerns, creating safety concerns on project sites. To ensure worker safety across the industry, significant changes need to be made.

The goal of the hackathon is to develop equipment that acknowledges, is designed for, and provides safety for a variety of workers. This will create greater safety and inclusion on project sites. By the end of the two days, we hope to have prototypes that can be further developed to increase health, sanitation, and access. The event will also highlight student research, provide guidelines for vests, and create a collaborative space for industry members to work alongside students to develop better, safer, functional, and appropriate safety vests.

Join this collaborative event at Cal Poly's campus, Building 187, on Thursday, June 8, and Friday, June 9.

The kick-off meeting will be held on Thursday, June 8, from 3 pm to 5 pm, with dinner that evening at Luna Red for registered attendees.

On Friday, we'll redesign the porta-potty from 8:30 until 2, with final presentations, judging, and closing remarks from 2 to 3. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided on Friday.

The agenda provides additional information for each day's activities.

We welcome anyone’s participation at the event who wants to make a better porta-potty experience. If you've used a porta-potty on a construction site (or avoided its use), please attend to provide input, network with other industry and students, and develop better designs for health, safety, and access.

The first hackathon, inspired by a student’s senior project, explored the fit and function of safety vests for a diverse workforce with varying body types by gaining worker insights. Six teams redesigned vests and cut apart and constructed prototypes, which were presented to industry workers and vest manufacturers. The goal of our safety vest hackathon was to improve fit, but additional themes of confidence, tokenism, (in)visibility and belongingness arose during participant interviews. From our first hack in April 2022, we've accomplished the following:

1. Increased awareness about #safetyfits through a social media campaign (student senior project on Instagram @safetyfits_cp)
2. Sampled and gave feedback on a new line of women’s safety vests
3. Shared our results and experience with the American National Standards Institute and the International Safety Equipment Association (ANSI/ISEA)
4. Presented information about the hack-a-thon event at a national conference.

This second hackathon will explore the porta potty to evaluate safety, health, and sanitation needs for diverse workers in June 2023. Initial survey results indicate workers delay or forgo using restrooms due to porta potty conditions, including urine on the seat, offensive graphics, or not having a place to dispose of feminine hygiene projects.

This event will work to create a better porta-potty experience, but will information collected before, during, and after the event will also contribute to a larger research agenda for students and faculty at Cal Poly. Participation in the research is voluntary (you can come and not be part of the research), and additional information about the research, its purpose, benefits, participation, and confidentiality will be provided at check-in. Upon arrival at the event, you will indicate your level of consent for participating in the study.

If you agree to participate, you will be asked to attend the event, participate in focus groups and/or individual interviews, be observed, provide written feedback and reflection throughout each day, and provide design ideas both graphically and using real materials. Again, you can attend the event and choose not to participate in the research - it's up to you - and you can opt out at any time.

Host or Publisher Stacy Kolegraff, Cal Poly Construction Management Department