| Facility executives understand that restroom appearance and cleanliness can affect a customer’s perception of an establishment. Because of this impact, they should be aware of restroom products and maintenance. |
| Whether a restroom is a new build or a redesign, facility decision makers should think about hygiene before purchasing any necessary fixtures or products. Hygiene can be easy to promote if you know what to look for when evaluating the options. First, be aware of the most impactful touch points that affect user experience within the restroom. Then, ensure as few germs are spread as possible by choosing hygienic product solutions and properly maintaining the restroom. |
| Proper hand washing and drying is essential in promoting restroom hygiene. Maintenance procedures should include cleaning sinks regularly to remove standing water, checking soap dispensers to safeguard against depletion, restocking paper towels regularly, removing paper waste to avoid trash overflow, and removing water drips underneath hand dryers. Additionally, hand dryers without a sealed system should be cleaned every six months. |
| Because damp hands spread up to 1,000 more bacteria than dried hands, choose an effective hand dryer. |
| Common Restroom Issues |
| When designing a restroom that promotes both employee and customer health, consider restroom issues that cause unhygienic situations and try to avoid these. |
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Unclean bathroom stalls and hand washing stations |
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Low stock of necessary products like toilet paper, hand soap, and paper towels |
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Improper facility maintenance and irregular cleaning |
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Water on the floor near hand washing and drying areas |
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Paper towel waste overflowing from trash receptacles |
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Clogged plumbing from improper use and/or disposal of paper towels |
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| Properly planning and maintaining the restroom can alleviate the stress these problems can cause and present a more hygienic experience. Create a daily maintenance plan and log to try and avoid restroom problems. |
| Certification Check |
| When it comes to hygiene and safety in a foodservice setting, not all products are created equal. Traditionally, hand dryers have been kept out of food preparation environments because: |
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They can leave staff with damp hands, which can spread bacteria. |
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They are often slow and can blow dirty restroom air back onto users’ hands. |
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Their surfaces may harbor potentially harmful bacteria. |
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| If a facility is proactively concerned with proper hygiene, decision makers will want to seek out products that are certified under NSF Protocol P335 which includes four key points: |
| Air Filtration: Air used to dry hands must be HEPA filtered in order to remove bacteria from the air being blown onto the user’s hands. |
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Unheated Air: Heated air can remove beneficial oils from the skin. The maximum air temperature is only slightly warmer than normal body temperature.
Drying Time: Hands must be dried within 15 seconds. |
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Drying Time: Hands must be dried within 15 seconds. |
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Touch Free Operation: The hand dryer must start and stop without user contact, because this reduces the opportunity of coming into contact with potentially contaminated buttons. |
| Other requirements relate to noise levels, burn resistance, and product cleanability, plus annual facility audits to ensure the product is manufactured to the same high quality standards year after year. |
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Article Source: https://facilityexecutive.com/2015/07/restroom-hygiene-in-foodservice/ |
