{"id":750,"date":"2015-03-05T11:14:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T18:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brevis.com\/blog\/?p=750"},"modified":"2020-07-23T13:06:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T19:06:07","slug":"the-filthy-dirty-truth-about-handwashing-hygiene-and-public-restrooms-the-dirty-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brevis.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/the-filthy-dirty-truth-about-handwashing-hygiene-and-public-restrooms-the-dirty-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"The filthy dirty truth about handwashing and hygiene in public restrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hygiene<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all been there: You have to \u201cgo\u201d and you\u2019re nowhere near home so you have a choice: shame yourself or (gasp!) use a public restroom.\u00a0So you consult a phone app to find the closest clean restroom (yes, there are several apps) and enroute to your designated clean loo you strategize how to get your business done and come\u00a0out unscathed. How do you get IN or OUT of the restroom without touching the door handle, for instance? Do you use your elbow? Do you grab a tissue or moist wipe from the pack you always keep handy? Same goes for the stall door. And what if the seat is in the wrong position? You can always employ the squat-and-hover method\u00a0and\u00a0flush the toilet with your foot.<\/p>\n

Discussing the variations is like watching a skit on Saturday Night Live. Let\u2019s say you flushed the toilet with your foot. Well, that means the next person might use their hands and whatever was on your shoe is now on their hands. And vice versa. You used a paper towel to open the door, but there\u2019s no garbage to dispose of the now\u00a0dirty towel\u2026so\u00a0where do you put it? And let’s say you\u00a0placed\u00a0your handbag or backpack on the hook on the stall door, but what was on the hook\u00a0before you got there? Because you may be taking it with you.\u00a0It\u2019s a vicious cycle. Is there a solution?<\/p>\n

After one of the largest handwashing surveys in the UK revealed some \u201cdeplorable habits\u201d recently, a company there launched a product to promote hand hygiene and shame bad hygiene<\/a> by displaying rates on screens in bathrooms. The product was piloted across different types of businesses such as education, office and retail facilities as well as other sectors where good hand hygiene is essential\u2014and the company claims the \u201cinformal nudge\u201d and increased peer pressure helped drive good behavior rates up dramatically. \u201cHand washing rates rose to 90 per cent within two days of the data being displayed, before stabilising between 80 per cent and 85 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, we never tire of handwashing discussions\u00a0around here. Now, another new survey\u00a0from restroom fixture manufacturer Bradley Corporation<\/a> has gone and given us more fodder by covering the actions many of us take to avoid touching anything in a restroom. Sounds oddly familiar and we’re not alone: 57% of people using public restrooms operate the flusher with their foot; 55% use paper towels with the door handle;\u00a045% open and close the door with behind (we assume that\u2019s a hip or bum); and 69% of people use their elbows to avoid all contact in a public restroom.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0look\u00a0forward to a world where 100% of respondents are washing their hands, but in the meantime we\u2019ll take an increase in people using paper towels, elbows, feet and bums, too.\u00a0\u00a0Of course, there\u2019s always room for improvement when it comes to the state of public restrooms. In fact, an unpleasant restroom experience can create a damaging and lasting impression for a business\u2014and that’s bad for business. According to the Bradley survey, the majority of consumers believe an unclean restroom indicates poor management (69%), lowers their opinion of the company (67% ) and signifies that the business doesn\u2019t care about customers (63%).<\/p>\n

Which brings us to another improvement we\u2019re thrilled to see in the business of taking care of our business: clean public restroom apps. There are several out there and we\u2019re not making a recommendation, but it can\u2019t be worse than going to a public restroom without some kind of head\u2019s up.<\/p>\n