Look no hands!
July 1st 2005

Washrooms can become dirty very quickly when fittings and door handles are touched by employees with oil, grease or solvents on their hands. Peter Broom of SCA Tissue Europe looks at the ways in which cross-contamination can be avoided in the industrial washroom When industrial workers go to the washroom, they usually expect to emerge with their hands cleaner than before they went in.

But how can they open the door to the washroom, turn on the tap or access the soap without leaving a trail of oil, ink or grease behind them? If they find this impossible, the next user will soil his or her own hands with the residue from the previous user, and so on.

And this means managing an industrial washroom can be a nightmare.

One solution to this problem is the introduction of no-touch systems.

Automatic flushes, taps and drying systems are becoming more common as washroom managers seek to tackle the issue of cross-contamination.

Some washrooms also use sensors that ensure the lights come on only when the washroom is in use, eliminating the problem of dirt and grime on the light switches. There are even systems to prevent the user from touching the cubicle door, such as handles that are operated by the foot. Touchless systems are excellent up to a point. The less hand contact there is in a washroom, the lower the risk of crosscontamination and of dirt and grime being transferred between users. But automatic systems are sensitive to power failure and can also add around 20 per cent to the cost of the washroom, which is an expense that most industrial managers would prefer to avoid.

Automatic systems can also prove frustrating – especially when taps or warm air dryers turn themselves off before the user has finished rinsing or drying his hands – so they are not always conducive to good hand hygiene.

Another problem is that touch-free systems potentially move the problem out of the washroom and back on to the shop floor, where workers who have failed to wash their hands leave grimy fingerprints on machinery, walls and door handles.

So an industrial washroom system needs to achieve two things – reduce the amount of hand contact that takes place in the washroom while encouraging people to wash their hands thoroughly. Mild soaps can help to promote good hand hygiene, and these should be accessed in a way that avoids hand contact with the dispenser.

Hand drying is particularly important, since wet hands are more effective at spreading dirt than dry hands. Disposable hand towels are ideal since textiles quickly become grimy in an industrial washroom, while warm air dryers take around 50 seconds to dry the hands properly – possibly longer than some busy employees are prepared to wait.

Individually-presented interfold towels have a higher cost per unit than traditional Cfold towels, but are designed to ensure that each towel is touched only by the user whereas C-fold towels can be pulled out – and contaminated – in clumps. Interfold towels also tend to be softer than C-fold options, which means they will dry the hands more thoroughly without causing chapping.

Interfold toilet tissue systems also help to eliminate the contamination risk, since individual tissue sheets are presented one at a time whereas a continuous textile roll can be dirtied by the previous user.

Industrial workers should ideally be educated about the importance of washing their hands. Many industrial fluids can aggravate the skin, and it makes sense to wash these away after use. If solvents and other hazardous chemicals are left behind on taps and door handles, these may be passed on to the next washroom user and perhaps cause allergies to flare up or aggravate skin conditions such as occupational dermatitis.

There are various other steps that can be taken to make industrial washrooms more user-friendly and to encourage good hand hygiene. Deep sinks should be supplied to allow staff to wash their forearms as well as their hands, and dispensers should be of a comfortable height to avoid the need for stretching or bending. Posters and stickers around the washroom will act as a prompt for staff to wash their hands.

It is estimated that approximately 98 per cent of cross-contamination in the washroom occurs from touching the fixtures. So touchless systems are a sensible solution - but if handwashing is not promoted as well, filthy washrooms will quickly be replaced by grimy workshops staffed by employees complaining of chapped and irritated hands.

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