Leonardo's Schooldays!

School age children are reportedly extremely receptive to the promotion of good habits such as hand washing and those habits can continue into later life with all the associated positive outcomes. Which is good, because hand washing and drying is one of the most important ways of controlling the spread of diseases and children are especially susceptible to contracting and transmitting enteric (relating to the intestines) infections. Why? Well, immature immune systems, the sharing of facilities and equipment, a high degree of close contact with other children and the fact that they seem to touch everything in sight is at least a part of the explanation.

Given that it is estimated that school children spend about one third of their time either in school or involved in school assignments, steps taken within school to encourage sound hand hygiene clearly make an important contribution to the overall health of the pupils and staff.

The benefits of having healthy pupils range from the obvious, no one really wants to have poorly children, to the more distant of less GP visits and reduced use of antibiotics. But perhaps another prime benefit to the school authorities is the reduction in the disruption to the academic year through illness related absences. Lessons missed and then the need to catch up all add pressure to pupils who are keen to succeed. Teachers can help, but they too are under pressure, with time being at a premium.

Having established the need for the provision of excellent hand hygiene facilities, the next set of questions tends to deal with practicalities. Leonardo's previous experience in supplying educational establishments with hand towel dispensers, hand towels and soaps has shown that there are a number of aspects that deserve further consideration over and above the usual. But let's deal with the usual first and initially, cost considerations come top in most janitorial conversations. Leonardo's range of dispensers are all of the latest design with inbuilt advantages. They are easy to clean and monitor, easy to fit and move and the award wining new Compact range allows them to be positioned into the more restricted spaces common in science labs, art studios and school kitchens. The tissue capacity has been increased so that they need less scheduled monitoring, less ordering and less storage for replacement stocks. All of those points help save money, making Leonardo dispenser systems one of the most cost effective options on the market.

Wastage is another of the great tissue issues. Because Leonardo dispensers present one sheet at a time, five is the number of sheets needed (or 75cms of roll towel) to thoroughly dry hands. That is much less than armfuls of centrefeed dispensed tissue or fistfuls of C-fold towels that users think they need, so wastage and thus cost is again much reduced.

There is of course another issue that involves wastage and that is the vandalism. Leonardo dispensers themselves are robust and durable, but throwing hand towels and tissue around washrooms has long been a feature of many schools at some time or another, being seen as a source of much humour amongst some of the young. Having to take one sheet at a time tends to reduce the giddy excitement of the moment, requiring as it does, a considerable investment in what may become to be seen for what it is, namely a rather tiresome exercise! However, in some instances it may be both necessary and advantageous for flushable tissue to be supplied, meaning that the plumbing costs to clear deliberate blockages can be avoided. The breadth and flexibility of the Leonardo range can successfully meet the needs of almost any in-school situation.

Foam soap has proven to be a popular option with washroom users and Leonardo offer two variants, Perfumed and Non-perfumed Antibacterial. The dispensers feature a push bar operation which is ideal for younger children and for those with limited hand strength and like the hand and roll towel dispensers, are easy to clean and monitor. The soap is kept fresh in hermetically sealed pouches which are easy to replace, each with their own new nozzle. The soap is formulated with raw materials from renewable resources and bio-degradable and even the dispenser is recyclable. Using less water as there is no need to lather first and much less rinsing is necessary, the Leonardo Foam soaps deliver good environmentally friendly credentials.

Schools and colleges have their own specific needs and usage patterns and the chosen washroom dispensing system needs to be in tune with those needs. Leonardo's experience in the sector and the customer care team's desire to understand and partner schools and their distributors to develop the individual solutions that give the children in their care the very best levels of hand hygiene with truly exceptional cost in use figures makes using Leonardo Dispensing Systems a great washroom decision.

Jonathan Hooper, Connect Hygiene Products Ltd Email: sales@leonardo-dispensing.co.uk www.leonardo-dispensing.co.uk