A Hands-On, Hands-Off Approach to Restroom Cleanliness
by Lisa Veeck
Over the years, various studies have found that restrooms are not necessarily the only—or even worst—culprit when it comes to the passage of germs in public areas. In fact, for one of the more recent and thorough such studies published in The International Journal of Environmental Health Research, a team of scientists spent four years gathering more than 1,000 samples from such public places as airports, restaurants, office buildings, and bathrooms in four American cities. The scientists looked specifically at bacteria levels as well as biological markers denoting the presence of such things as sweat, hemoglobin, and urea.
The study found play grounds and day care centers to be the most contaminated, with levels as high as 46 percent. Meanwhile, restrooms scored a relatively paltry 25 percent—barely a nose ahead of handrails and armrests in buses and other forms of public transportation and shopping cart handles, both of which came in at about 21 percent in the germ tally.
However, the same study found that approximately 86 percent of the time—in all the areas, including restrooms—the contaminants were transferred from the surface to an individual's hands, and, in 82 percent of cases, sallied forth to personal belongings.
Some relief can be found from the cross-contamination scare in the increasing number of studies that show hand washing with soap and water can reduce the risk of getting sick from traveling contaminants by as much as 50 percent. Of course, the flip side is that the remaining 50 percent continues to lurk on surfaces and in the air, just waiting to make unsuspecting adults and children ill.
Innovative Warfare
A major way restroom cleaning professionals can win in the fight against restroom contaminants is by staying abreast of and implementing new technologies aimed at reducing surface cross contamination, such as touchless toilets and sensor-activated soap, water and towel dispensers.
In older restrooms, where immediately implementing the latest sensor and other techno-savvy solutions may not be possible, going larger can help protect users and cleaning professionals alike in that larger toilet paper rolls and increased-capacity soap and towel dispensers require less pumping and pulling on empty dispensers as well as less frequent (hands-on) changing. (Of course no cleaning professional should ever even entertain the idea of cleaning a restroom without protective gear—at the very least gloves and, in more extreme cases, total body coverings and foot wear.)
Keeping up on new cleaning technologies includes the product formulas themselves, New formulas are being produced continually, many of which are “greener,” making them safer for the environment, users, and cleaning personnel because they not only effectively eliminate germs but also reduce exposure to more toxic chemicals that themselves can be spread from hand, to surface, to hand.
Keep in Touch
Staying informed about emerging products and new technologies that can reduce cross-contamination and enhance restroom cleanliness sounds good. The question for today’s busy cleaning professional is how to do it. Here are a few quick tips:
Attend the top tradeshows. Visit those in your country as well as around the world if possible. You’ll be amazed at how much there really is new in the cleaning profession and what better way to view it than in a single, concentrated venue (Check out the upcoming ISSA/INTERCLEAN®® worldwide shows as well as other top tradeshows.)
Keep in touch with your suppliers. Distributors, talk to your manufacturers reps. Facility service providers, develop good relationships with a few trusted distributors. It’s your supplier’s job to keep you informed on what’s new. They should be able to provide you with concise, accurate, information tailored to your needs. If they can’t, find ones that can!
Seek information through your preferred medium. Good information from a reliable source is essential but only if it is presented in a way it can be absorbed, whether that means in person, printing information out to read later, or visiting a Web site at your leisure.