Where have those hands been?
April 1st 2008

We all wash our hands after going to the toiletor do we? According to research recently released by PHS Washrooms and YouGov, almost a quarter of us have seen people leave the loo every single day without washing their hands.And guess what? Men are worse than women...

According to the survey, 24 per cent of us have witnessed people leaving the toilet daily without a visit to the sink almost a third (29 per cent) in the gents and just under a fifth (19 per cent) in the ladies. And yet, only just over a third of us are reluctant to shake hands (35 per cent) just in case someone hasn't washed their hands.

Deadly bacteria such as MRSA and e-coli as well as salmonella food poisoning are spread as a result of poor hand washing, which the survey showed many people didn't know. Under half (46 per cent) of 18 to 24 year-olds realised that E-coli could be spread this way and one in two (48 per cent) didn't know MRSA could also be passed on through poor hand washing. Men were less aware of this issue than women just over two thirds of men (67 per cent) knew about MRSA as opposed to 80 per cent of women.

The report was released as workplace services provider, PHS Washrooms, launches a new low energy hand-dryer Airforce. The company claims that the 1.1kW dryer uses up to 80 per cent less energy than other dryers. It also drastically reduces the spread of deadly bacteria such as salmonella, MRSA and E-coli with an antibacterial coating. One of the fastest and most compact dryers around,Airforce could save enough energy in one year to make almost 100,000 photocopies! Airforce has been designed by the world leader in hand dryers World Dryer, in partnership with PHS Washrooms. "Energy saving is an issue which affects all of us and everyone has a part to play in reducing environmental damage," says Ian Osborne, MD of PHS Washrooms (pictured left with Huw Durban, head of SteriTouch)."At PHS Washrooms we are committed to developing and designing products that have minimal impact on the environment. The Airforce hand-dryer is no exception and, consequently, uses less energy than any other hand dryer in its class.

"Infection control is another key area which affects many organisations including hospitals, schools and businesses of all sizes. We have tackled this issue with an anti-bacterial coating called SteriTouch on the Airforce hand dryer, which dramatically reduces the likelihood of bacteria such as salmonella,MRSA and E-coli spreading through cross-contamination. I would like to congratulate the design team on their innovation which has resulted in such a remarkable product." For further details, either call the number in the blue box, or use the free reader enquiry service at:www.cleaning-matters.co.uk

Number crunching

There are over 1500 hospitals in the UK. If a hospital with 1000 people had the Airforce hand dryer fitted, with people drying their hands three times in 24 hours, then the average energy saving in just one hospital would be over 24,000 kW of energy, or 36 million kW of energy if fitted in all hospitals! For 1500 hospitals, that could mean a cost saving of over a million pounds a year.

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