FAME webinar: menstrual health and hygiene in the heritage workplace

• Hi everyone, so for anyone who doesn’t know me, my name is Amy and, oh, it’s on automatic, I am very sorry. I’ll just quickly do an introduction. So my name is Amy and I’ve been in Commercial Fieldwork Archaeology since 2012. And earlier this year I took purpose with Arcus Consulting. They’re a Renewables Energy Consultancy as a Heritage Consultant. I started Seeing Red back in 2019 so it’s not that old because after, six, seven years in the field, I was absolutely fed up of all of us who menstruated, just never having safe welfare, clean welfare, or even just able to menstruate at all.

01:07 - So yeah, so I sort of thought right, something has got to be done. And with the help of Mentoring for Womxn in Archaeology and Heritage BAJR Respect and Prospect, we’ve been able to set it up. Right, Slideshow. These are all the amazing companies who have been able to help me set up, Seeing Reds. I’d like to give a big shout out here to the Enabled Archaeology Foundation. The late Theresa O’Mahoney was actually one of the first people I contacted when I had this mad idea to set up Seeing Red.

01:41 - And she’s actually the inspiration behind creating the Accessible Period Packs for on site welfare. So a huge, huge thank you for the work from Enabled archaeology as well as to Theresa. So everyone else who’ve got mentioned for welfare, our little mascot is behind me, BAJR Respect, Prospect archaeology who helped launch Seeing Red at the 2019 TAG UCL. So if anyone remembers me from that, hello, and as well as for BAJR Jobs for enabling me to set up a free To Download Guide as part of a bunch to guide series on Menstrual Health and Welfare. So what is Seeing Red? Seeing Red is a grassroots movement designed to create change within the Archaeological Industry by ensuring safe, clean, accessible, menstrual hygiene for anyone who needs it on site.

02:35 - This is a campaign not just for Cis-women because Trans-men, Gender Non-Binary individuals can also menstruate. There are many reasons an individual may be unable to safely access supplies prior to being on site, I’ve written some of these down here, but essentially periods happen. Yeah, we can’t help them at all. And yeah, there’s many reasons. Period Poverty is a huge problem in the UK. Periods as well are not very regular at all. One of the biggest problems of being a Fieldworker Archaeologist is that staff are often caught out, or have a heavier blood flow than normal.

03:11 - It’s often due to extra exercise that was unanticipated or just quite frankly, having a bad day. Yeah it happens to the best of us no matter how well prepared we are. A lot of staff also have invisible conditions such as Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS. These can have menstrual complications and cause staff to be unable to work to a normal standard. I actually have Endometriosis. So if anyone wants to talk to me about it, I’m more than happy to sort of give some tips and advice on how I coped with it on site.

03:47 - Now post-pregnancy menstruation and as well the menopause they are complex and can also lead to an urgent need for sanitary supplies. Again, seeing Red aims to cater to anyone who needs extra support, extra supplies and also anyone experiencing complex symptoms, related to menstruation, menopause and invisible illnesses. So seeing Red fully supports everyone within the LGBTIA+ community, as well as the Black Lives Matter Movement because it’s not just white women who menstruate. So I compiled a series of horror stories. I have actually had to trim them down to only two slides because when I put out a call, I’ve had an inundated 50 plus examples of some genuine horror. So this is a fundamental reason why menstruation campaign is needed within Archaeology.

04:48 - So the fact that portaloos but no hand washing facilities are standards. That’s still terrifying to read, even though I’m used to that. And I shouldn’t be used to that. The fact that I know many women who’ve had to go on the pill or take the Contraception Injections just to stop them from having periods because it’s such a traumatically experience on sites. No job should be forcing womxn to alter their bodies. During a buildings recording job I had to change a tampon behind a tree.

05:24 - looking back it was unhygienic and degrading. The horrifying thing about that statement is the looking back out at the time, this is the norm. The fact that for six years, that was normal. That’s actually not one of my quotes, but that was one that was sent in to me. Looking back is the horrifying aspects of that statement.

05:45 - Another individual, I had to change a tampon in a derelict building that was in the process of being demolished because there was no accessible toilets on site. There was no door, oops sorry, excuse me there was no door and I had to do it as quick as possible before the builders came back in. Then I had to carry around the used tampon around all day because there was no bin. Bins are a problem on site. So there’s often nowhere to even just pop, you know, something, in a dog bag and just pop it into normal bin there’s often nowhere for us to safely conceal or change our menstrual products. If even for those of us who are menstrual cup users hello.

06:24 - Again, if anyone wants to talk to me about that, am more than happy to discuss, but even changing those is an absolute nightmare on sites where there’s no toilets, no running water, no doors, nowhere safe. Another quite, been plenty of people who came on a period early and had to leave site due to lack of supplies, as well as many cases, the tampons being thrown into hedges. This is quite an important statement here where those who couldn’t use tampons suffer the most. Everyone’s body is different. Some people can use tampons at some prefer mooncups, some prefer pads. Menstruation is so private. And so individual. There’s no blankets just do this. for the fact that there’s so many individuals who cannot safely menstruate at all on sites is incredibly problematic.

07:19 - I had to change a tampon behind a farmyard wall in sleet, standing in sheep poo, I mean this just a nightmare am going to be honest. Still wearing gloves as it was too cold to remove them and then had to carry the used tampon in my pocket for the rest of the day as I couldn’t discard it anywhere. I’m just going to leave that one there and pretend I can hear the collective intake of, oh my God breath. Watching brief where all the staff based out of cars and so the individual couldn’t go to the loo for eight to nine hours. And here’s the important part, It was okay for the men as they could just wander off.

07:53 - Women, LGBTQI individuals womxn do not have the luxury of just being able to go and hide behind a tree or hide behind a wall. It is a huge, for those of us who have to, you know, go without going to the loo for eight to nine hours, we’ve all been there. We’ve all done it. It’s horrible. Things need to change. And then finally, it’s been quite a lot of problems with water in the women’s toilets. It was on and off quite a bit. And the principal contractor wasn’t bothered about getting things fixed quickly. If anyone was on their periods, they had to walk through hallways opening doors to be able to wash hands in kitchen sinks. I mean, that’s it.

08:32 - when you’ve just changed or done anything in the toilet the first thing you have to do that you’re taught from the age of, two years old is wash your hands, after going to the toilet, the fact that we are unable to wash our hands after going to the toilet is, is an absolute nightmare. That’s not okay. And even though now with COVID protocols there’s a lot better emphasis on hand-washing and anti-bac and hand wipes it’s, it shouldn’t have taken COVID to get hand-washing safe hygienic facilities in toilets. They should already have been there. So when I launched Seeing Red at the December TAG in 2019 it’s already been uptaken by all these units. So a big shout outs here to CFA, AOC, Historic England, MOLA, Oxford Archaeology, PCA archaeology, at the university of Edinburgh Archaeological Society, Wardell-Armstrong Archaeology, Wessex Archaeology and York Archaeological Trust. You are all so cool, thank you so much for this.

09:42 - Essentially with Seeing Red because it’s me doing it. It’s voluntary. I’ll happily send out a free period pack as seen here in the screen in the portlet, that has all the basic supplies but I do encourage units to create their own boxes. So we have some fantastic examples a pair of I can see large pads wriiten on there, tampons as well in another one. The fact that this site here has got some really some really snazzy bins to pop them in. It is so easy to create a Period First Aid Kit for sites.

10:18 - It’s that there shouldn’t be a problem with staff being able to create it. So again, I’d like to shout at here to Wessex, for putting this very publicly on their website and sent out to all staff, that’s fantastic to see. So, thank you very much to all, all the individuals and units as well, who have currently adopted Seeing Red. And I hope to see more of it. So the financial costs as every archaeological project manager and also every consultants likes to say how much so quick note here, I personally advocate for environmental friendly options, such as cups and cloths. However, these pair kits are for short-term emergency use. Therefore hygiene is the imperative here.

11:07 - So the fact that we are still paying tax because tampons and pads are still luxury items. I’m not even going to go too much in depth on that one because it’s a normal biological function. It’s, it’s like being taxed at, can you imagine what would happen if toilet roll became a luxury? I mean pre 2020 before everyone ran out of toilet roll. You didn’t think anything twice about it. I’d love to see an end to the fact that tampons and pads, we have to pay more for a normal biological function. So for the units in the Theresa Mahoney designs, Accessible Packs.

11:55 - I’ve popped a little thing up here about how much the standard boxes of tampons, pads, plastic bags, tissues, and things are , for a rough period shopping session that’s about 12 Pounds. That’ll do for a month, month and a half maybe it depends on the individuals. And then down here, this is how much the Period Packs as a whole cost five Pounds, 53, give or take where you go shopping. I went to Superdrug. But that was about standard price. To be honest fair, everything you need to get a Period Kit. So I’ll just quickly talk you through these, I recommend, a see-through easy-to-clean case as we saw before, two slides up these fantastic fine cases here we’ll also do they have to be wiped down. They have to be easily cleanable. They have to be hygienic. Having them see-through as well.

12:50 - It just helps to make sure, are they stocked up and are they full. Pack of tissues, Again, there’s often a really spare shots of loo roll in toilets, loo roll importantly it often ends up in the floor. It tends up covered in mud. So just a clean pack of tissues, hand sanitizer, and or pack of wet wipes. Again, I put those as standards in the packs just in case there’s none in the toilets. Obviously now with COVID protocols, there’s a lot better access to hand sanitizer, add wet wipes waste bags, whether or not this is just a small roll per person or one large bag to just have as a bin.

13:30 - It then saves the hustle of us having to pop used tampons, used pads, used things in our pockets and carrying them around all day. That was normally quite good fun whenever I was cleaning out my pockets just throw my trousers in the wash and finding, you know, my used tampons which is great, regular tampons, super tampons like pads, everyone is different. Everybody is different. it’s to put in a range of menstrual supplies would be so great for an individual. essentially these packs are just set to get them through a day, maybe two days until they can get their own supplies back in. So that’s what I would recommend and to be put in each pack.

14:12 - And ideally, I’d like to see when those packs go out on every single site and all handed out for all watching briefs and building recordings. Even if there’s just one individual on there. It’s you don’t know, it’s no one else’s business what their genitalia is just because there’s someone on site who presents male, doesn’t mean that again, there not going to end up with no problems. So just to reiterate, these packs should be handed out as standard to anyone who may be going on a job. So next steps, I popped in some links here, but I’m just going to read them anyways.

14:50 - You can download the Seeing Reds guide from BAJR So a huge thank you there David Connolly for letting me do this. You can make up your own up Seeing Red pack, or order a free one, hello, from me I’ve popped in my email address here amymentoringwomeninarch@gmail.com. I also have Seeing Red stickers and badges for sale as well so money from those goes straight to the Bloody Good Period Charity ans Shelter for Homelessness It’d be good to make sure that staff are aware. There is a Seeing Red pack available to pick up or that they’ve Seeing Red packs made up and able to go out to for all sites. And then you can relax some busk in the knowledge your staff are able to menstruate safely.

15:34 - So in terms of mobilisation, ideally, I’d like to try and get this out to universities or field schools whether it’s commercial, academic, community, any field school, whether it may be someone who menstruates also all non archaeological field work related careers are encouraged to adopt these principles too. So, you know, ecology, environment, landscape, anthropology. Anyone who may be going out in the field, Seeing Red is for field work, not just for archaeology. So I’d love to see us to make menstruation normal again. And then I’ve just popped in a note here as well, a menstrual hygiene management. This is actually from the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust. So the fact that it’s, you’ve got big organisations such as these huge trusts turning around and saying, we need better menstrual hygiene management across the world. This isn’t just a problem that’s in archaeological field work this is a worldwide issue. So the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust recommends that women and girls I’ll say including LGBTI+ individuals there should have clean material to absorb or collect menstrual blood. This material can be changed in privacy. And as often as necessary, and soap and water can be used to washing the body and staying clean as required.

17:00 - As well as access to facilities for disposing of used menstrual management materials. Those four basic hygiene managements. The fact that even in the UK on archaeological commercial sites, It’s taken me six years to create the Seeing Red Movement because they do not exist. It’s like I said, it’s got better with COVID but it shouldn’t have taken COVID to get accessible toilets for menstruation. I’ve just popped up here, Some common questions and answers that I frequently have been asked during my time. These have been questions asked across Twitter, in person at TAG, across emails, and seen on social media pages as well.

17:48 - It’s, if there’s only one person for the job as it’s a local build recording Do I still need a pair of kit? Yes. Whether you are doing solo work, it is imperative or the colleague is able to reimburse the pair product expenditure. Allergies, Absolutely. So cotton is an allergen however, it’s down to the individual to manage their allergies. Quite frankly, all the employer has to do is hand out a period pack, if it gets used great, If it doesn’t get used, oh well. I’ll quickly make a note here about Toxic shock Syndrome.

18:21 - So again, going back to the comment about not be able to go to the toilet for eight to nine hours, this could potentially prove fatal for people who menstruate Toxic Shock Syndrome is very real. It is rare, but it’s a fatal disease where your body goes into instant shock. And it is often caused by tampons. I don’t know about mooncups. I’ll have to look more into that one, but it’s, anyone who uses tampons is very wet, do not keep them in for longer than eight hours due to increase risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome. So that is why it is imperative to always have toilets for people who menstruate on site. Again, what if your colleague don’t use tampons or pads, well it is up to the individual, how they manage their periods and their choice of supplies.

19:06 - All you’re doing by providing a Seeing Red period kit is facilitating inability. There’s nothing more to that. I’ve just popped up a note here, Health and Safety Executive the HSE in 2007, sanitary waste disposal should be provided in all settings used by female workers. It is therefore law for bins to have to be in any toilets used by people who menstruate. It’s quite sad to say that, I’ve worked for many companies now where either they were not aware of the law but that’s, that’s how it has to be. So I’d love to see more companies out to reading health and safety, adopt to the same reference polls and going right.

19:50 - If at the very least it’s that’s how it should’ve been. I’ve got to put this in the presentation but Brilliant Bins do pop-up sanitary bins. So if you go onto the Brilliant Bins websites you can order pop-up sanitary bins, which will fit in both loos, which is, which is brilliant. Some final, quite common questions and answers like, say these are continuing on questions I’ve had across emails, social media and in person. So who, who supplies a period kit? Well, whoever’s dealing with the welfare considerations and all the budgets.

20:25 - It’s up to the project manager to make sure is there a first aid kit and also, is there a Seeing Red kit. Does this mean my colleagues have to be more open with me about their periods? No. it is their body, their choice, their privacy, your role is to enable a safe, supportive, inclusive space where colleagues don’t have to take time off for periods which benefits you and them. I’ll just pop in a personal note there as well. There’s been so many sites where I’ve used my entire annual leave, during the course of a contract, just because of my periods.

21:03 - I shouldn’t be having to use my annual leave for a normal biological function. It’s ridiculous. So I don’t want to be responsible for my colleagues periods well periods happen to men and gender non-binary. You are not responsible for their periods, You enabling a supportive and inclusive environment. I’ve only just noticed now that’s basically saying the same as one of the other questions but that says how often I get asked about that, where people don’t want to be responsible for it. And then finally, what if the staff are working far away from site compound where the toilet is, again, it’s a common problem in archaeology.

21:40 - MWAH and Seeing Red recommends keeping the period kits in the designated site vehicle for anyone to access, or the nearest site hut. Be prepared to give anyone a lift off site to the nearest toilet, if, and when this is the case whenever they need it. Unfortunately, we’ve all been in that situation. Those that menstruate were, there’s no one available to take us back to the site compound. So we’ve just had to have to deal with it or go home, which is really horrible. It’s a horrible position to be in.

22:11 - And my husband’s actually on site today, but he quite likes bragging that he’s one of the few POs who will happily throw people into cars and throw them all over the site compounds whenever they need it. So, woo hoo, married a feminist. I mean, I’m very open to any of the questions, So I’d like to just say a huge bloody thank you, Period Pun. To FAME for inviting me to do this webinar, Historic England of course to their continued support, and also for funding this webinar series a big thank you to CIfA, for again, supporting, Seeing Red. And I’d like to finish off by saying, a huge thank you to Aisling Nash of Ashtree Heritage who designed the fantastic logo as well as designed and set the BAJR guide. Thank you very much. I’m now open to questions. .