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. More articles from PHS Group plc: | 
