Facilities managers can boost the health and well-being of staff and visitors by encouraging hand hygiene compliance in the washroom, says Mike Sullivan, managing director of GOJO Industries-Europe.
On 19 November, 2016, it was the United Nation’s World Toilet Day – a day of action to raise awareness about a global sanitation crisis which even today sees 2.4 billion people struggle without a proper toilet. The ambitious goal behind this annual campaign is to ensure that everyone on our planet has access to toilets by 2030; making sanitation a global development priority.
It is a sobering thought that access to a toilet is considered a luxury for so many people in the world, and one that perhaps we don’t reflect on often enough – we tend to take our washrooms and the sanitary benefits they bring to society for granted.
But this is no reason to be complacent. It is of course widely known that you should clean your hands thoroughly after using the washroom – after all, it is one of the first hygiene lessons we teach our children. And yet research shows that a quarter of people who use the washroom do not wash their hands, and 46% of people who do wash, don’t wash for long enough to be effective.
These are troubling statistics, particularly considering how quickly infections can spread, and the fact that more than 80% of illnesses can be transmitted by the hands. The washroom should be considered a germ hot spot by facilities managers, and germs that make their way on to the hands here can easily be transferred to other surfaces throughout a building. But having the correct dispensing equipment and signage in place can help increase hand hygiene compliance, and ultimately boost the health of a facility.
The UK Office for National Statistics estimates that more than 400 million working days were lost due to sickness absence between 2013 and 2015, including 138.7 million working days lost in 2015 alone. But research suggests that a comprehensive hand hygiene programme in the workplace can have a significant impact on the health of employees, reduce absenteeism, and improve the perception of company concern for employee well-being.
The World Health Organization’s latest infection prevention and control guidance also highlights hand hygiene as a core element to breaking the chain of infection in a facility.
Access to the right products and systems plays a critical role in the promotion of healthy hand hygiene, and can increase hand washing and sanitising compliance in a building. Creating and improving a healthy environment can be as simple as adjusting or upgrading washroom facilities; enhancing the perception of a facility as well as increasing hand hygiene compliance in both staff and visitors.
Give visitors and workers options
Dispensers can be wall-mounted, free-standing, push-activated or touch-free – the latter models intuitively sense the presence of hands and dispense just the right amount of product every time. The fact that they are touch-free also increases their hygiene rating. Meanwhile, soaps can come in gel or foam format, with or without fragrance; and hygienic hand rubs can also provide another level of protection in addition to washing hands.
The best manufacturers will also offer sanitary sealed refills for dispensers. These are refill cartridges where the product inside has been protected from contamination thanks to being factory sealed. A fresh valve with each refill is also important, as this means that the soap is never open to the environment and so cross contamination from the air or other sources is prevented.
Using products that both look and feel good can greatly enhance the washroom experience and they can also play a major role in encouraging healthy hand hygiene behaviour. To be truly successful, systems need to combine good aesthetics and accessibility, whilst being equipped with pleasant and effective hygienically advanced formulations. Hence, dispensers that look good and are easy to use, which are installed at convenient locations, are bound to be more popular.
Efficacy is, of course, an important issue, so only those companies who can prove the effectiveness of their soaps and hand rubs against germs through independent scientific testing should be considered. The best products will successfully combine this with soothing, moisturising ingredients that are gentle on the skin, meaning that the products can be used again and again, safe in the knowledge that hands will be kept in good condition.
And just as the risk of infections doesn’t stop at the door to the washroom, nor should a facility manager’s investment in hand washing and sanitising tools. Hand hygiene solutions should be conveniently located throughout a facility as part of a carefully considered hand hygiene programme that factors in other germ hotspots such as desks, handrails and kitchen areas.
Raise awareness
Facilities managers could also consider introducing public awareness posters about the importance of hand hygiene. As well as being located in washrooms, these could be found in reception areas, waiting areas and other communal places, such as cafeterias, where hand hygiene compliance is also paramount. The best hand hygiene companies can offer sound advice on the most effective approaches, and provide materials, based on their knowledge of your sector.
By enhancing the washroom experience, not only will you reduce the risk of germs spreading, you can reduce staff absenteeism and improve the image of your building.
Making hand hygiene accessible
Designed to bridge the gap between dispensers and bottles, the new PURELL ES™ Everywhere System is the smallest, most versatile PURELL system in the market. It combines premium aesthetics with the trusted PURELL® Advanced Hygienic Hand Rub, offering innovative placement options, ideal in a variety of settings, with the ultimate in germ-killing effectiveness.
The PURELL ES™ Everywhere System expands the sanitiser category by providing access to hand hygiene solutions in previously challenging locations, such as food handling environments and mobile facilities.
Constructed of robust materials, key features include a variety of mounting accessories, quick and easy maintenance and long term reliability with trouble free performance, giving this PURELL® product a unique place in the hand hygiene category.
