Should I Have a Hand Sanitizer
Dispenser in my Washroom?

This week’s topic focuses on a question I get asked quite often: everyone has (or at least should have) a soap dispenser in their washroom, but how necessary is an instant hand sanitizer dispenser?

In recent years, we’ve seen hand sanitizer dispensers pop up in all sorts of facilities: shopping malls, hospitals, grocery stores, and even private businesses have installed automatic dispensers for quick sanitization. The number of hand sanitizer dispensers we see and use are definitely on the rise, but what’s the benefit to installing them in your business?

The Numbers Behind Hand Washing

Here’s the hard facts on hand washing:

• 1 in 4 people do not wash their hands after using the washroom

• 46% of the people that do wash their hands don’t wash long enough to be effective when it comes to killing germs

Yikes. Consider how often we touch shared spaces in our workplaces: it happens thousands of times a day at any given facility. Besides being something we do frequently, touch is also the easiest way to transmit germs. When germs spread, they threaten people, productivity and even the image you work so hard to maintain.

Eliminate Germs the Effective Way

The solution to your germ-spreading woes? Install a Purell dispenser inside your restroom.

The best location for a dispenser is on the wall of the handle side of the exit door. Installing your dispenser here will reduce the risk of spreading germs by providing an additional visual queue for overall hand hygiene in the restroom.

Installing a hand sanitizer dispenser will also eliminate another issue that I see in many washrooms: the bunches of paper towel left behind on the floor by the exit door. In an attempt to touch one less surface in a public restroom, people often use a paper towel to open the door after they’ve washed their hands.

Rather than throw these paper towels in the trash where they belong, sometimes these towels end up as casualties left strewn on the bathroom floor. Sure, maybe this helps to keep restroom germs inside the restroom, but it also means there’s one extra step for your janitorial staff at the end of the day. Not to mention, it doesn’t leave your facilities looking well-cared for.

By hanging a hand sanitizer dispenser at the exit door, you will help reduce the risk of germs leaving the restroom while improving your building’s image at the same time. Scientific evidence also shows significant decreases in absenteeism due to illness in facilities that have implemented a Purell Hand Hygiene Program.

Watch the video below to learn more about Purell Perfect Placement when it comes to installing your dispenser in the restroom.

Has your business already adopted a hand sanitizer dispensing program? I want to hear about your experience! Get social with me on Facebook and Twitter to share your hand-sani stories.

As always, stay clean!