Public toilets for disabled people in parks were found to fall under requirements under the law and even pose a risk of safety accidents, causing inconvenience to the challenged.

The Consumer Safety Center of the Korea Consumer Agency (President: Young-seen Kim, www.kca.go.kr) conducted a research into 30 public toilets for the disabled in parks in metropolitan areas and found that 86.7% (26 places) fell short of one or more standards under the current law.

The investigation focused on facilities such as entrance, guidance, interior space, and floor tile. 10 toilets (33.3%) were found to provide limited access for the disabled due to poor road condition to main entrance or obstruction on the road, while 22 places (73.3%) fell short of guide indication facilities such as information in Braille signs or tactile paving. Meanwhile, 7 places (23.3%) were found to be blow the standard in terms of the width of main entrance. 

For floor tile, which is closely related to bathroom safety, when the floor is slippery, 10 places (33.3%) were found to have no non-skid function in place, posing a big threat of safety accident.    

Based on the findings, the Korea Consumer Agency advises local government responsible for disabled toilets to be found as falling short of facility standards to change or improve their facilities, while making a recommendation to the Ministry of Health and Welfare to tighten safety standards for non-slip floor tile and others.