Make the Sensible
Choice:
Get Paper Towels
Submitted with
permission from Wood Wyant Inc. by the Canadian Association of Environmental
Management
Hot-air dryers may
seem like a good deal at first. They don’t need to be refilled like paper towel
dispensers and their manufacturers always insist they are more hygienic. But
there are a lot of drawbacks to hot-air dryers that may not be immediately
apparent and that make them a poor investment in the long run.
Most studies on
hand hygiene and bacterial contamination of the hands have mainly concentrated
on the effect of hand washing and the type of soap utilized. However, it has
been shown that the hand drying method is as important as the hand washing
method in reducing the number of bacteria on the hands. It also minimizes the
risk of transferring these organisms to food and other objects after using
public toilets.
People rarely use
warm air dryers long enough to ensure more than 55 to 60 per cent dryness and
often complete drying by wiping their hands on clothes, etc. Furthermore,
hot-air dryers take, on average, more than three times as long to dry your
hands. Over the course of months and years, that represents quite a significant
amount of down time for your employees.
For this very
reason, people generally avoid them if given a choice and even use toilet paper
to dry their hands. Who has time to spend a minute and a half in front of a
hot-air dryer when you can get the job done with a couple of quick wipes?
Some manufacturers
have enhanced their hot-air dryers by reducing the time needed to dry hands.
However, these improvements have been made to the detriment of noise. When
conducting different surveys, respondents complain and favour paper hand
towels. To further reduce cross-contamination in facilities, investing in
touchless technology is a must. “No Touch” paper towel dispensers are the
ultimate option for better hygiene and a safer environment. Furthermore, the
hand towels can be used to turn off the tap and therefore reduce the risk of
cross-contamination. Reducing cross-contamination helps to reduce absenteeism –
an added benefit to a good hand hygiene program.
