Maintaining washroom hygiene as part of FM

Generally, people consider most toilets in offices and public places to be dirty or not up to an acceptable level of cleanliness despite being cleaned on a regular basis. As a result, people, particularly women, are nervous about picking up an infection from these toilets. Therefore, the question is: “How can a facilities manager equip the workplace toilets to maximize hygiene that inspire staff confidence and improve the company’s image for visitors?

Most of us spend more time in our offices and other public places than we do in our homes and so it is important that management, through its office or facilities manager, provides premises that are both attractive and comfortable to keep staff and visitors happy. Now that we have the corporate social responsibility, there is an obligation on employers to provide staff with good working environment.

A good workplace is not just about attractive offices but attention should also be paid to the toilets since this is one place that nearly everyone will visit during their working day. The state of the toilets in an office or public place such as a restaurant tells me about the all important first impression of the organization and the value attached to hygiene.

I know people who rarely or never use public toilets preferring to wait until they get home. Toilets at work and in public places must be clean with a fresh smell. Often times, the complaints are usually about toilets with no soap or toilet roll, broken locks, flooded floor, no water, cramped cubicles and bad smell.

Hygiene should be a key feature of any toilet facility if the spread of infections is to be minimized. Illness at work can lead to absenteeism and lack of productivity. Bacteria in the toilet can collect in a number of areas including the toilet flush mechanism, light switch, taps and door handle. People who fail to wash and dry their hands thoroughly after visiting the toilet potentially retain some bacteria and this can easily be transferred to the mouth when eating or contaminate electronic equipment and other fixtures.

It is not a difficult task to maintain toilets to an acceptable level of cleanliness to promote hygiene practices. The first task for the facilities manager is assessing the human traffic likely to visit the washrooms between service checks. This enables the FM to know the number of washroom dispensers that will ensure sufficient supply of soap, hand towels and toilet rolls in the toilets.

For instance, in busy workplace toilets, supply of high capacity jumbo toilet tissues and hand towel roll dispenser may be the answer. If the toilets are checked frequently, a system that allows for quick top up of hand towels and toilet rolls may be preferred. It is also a good idea to supply hand moisturizing cream to help avoid skin condition. Dispensers for soap, hand towels and toilet tissues will protect the products inside from contamination and ensure the toilet visitors only touch the product they use. Sensor operated or the elbow operated ones will avoid the need to touch the dispenser altogether. This will also prevent mess to keep the washrooms clean and well kept.
Finally, the FM must put a notice to the wall encouraging visitors to the toilets to use paper towel when touching door handles and turning off lights to prevent cross-contamination. This is particularly useful if the lighting is not automatic.