KwikHEAT - Practical Facilities Management

Food for thoughtin the washroomHygiene is important in everywashroom, but particularly inestablishments where people areconstantly handling food. SCA TissueEurope’s Jenny Turner looks atwashrooms in food factories, cateringkitchens and eating places andconsiders how best to equip them formaximum hygiene.The need for good hand hygiene in the food industryshould be a matter of common knowledge.Handwashing is vital between food industry taskssince any contamination from raw meat or poultryneeds to be thoroughly cleansed from the handsbefore another food product is touched.In food preparation areas, handwashing is ofparamount importance after using the washroom,too, for obvious reasons. But evidence suggests thatmany food workers are still neglecting their handhygiene.One food industry study found that 60 per cent offood service personnel did not wash their handsafter using the toilet. Another study revealed that 12per cent of food workers had listeria spp on theirhands due to inefficient handwashing.These omissions are grave and potentially lifethreatening. E. coli, Campylobacter, Hepatitis A,listeria and salmonella are among the conditions thatcan be passed on via the hands. In some cases onlya few bacteria or viral particles are needed to causean illness.In order to promote good hand hygiene among foodworkers – whether in a food factory or a cateringkitchen - plenty of hand basins, soap dispensers andhand drying facilities should be available.SCA makesSustainability Top 100for 4th year runningTork manufacturer SCA hasbeen named as one of theworld’s 100 Most SustainableCorporations for the fourthyear running.The Global 100 listing was introducedin 2005 – which means that SCA hasfeatured every year since its inception.“We are delighted to be named as oneof the world’s 100 Most SustainableCorporations once again,” said SCA’scategory director John Drengler.“Our goal is to continuously decreasethe environmental impact of ourproducts at every stage of their lifecycles – from raw materials to waste.Good hand drying facilities are particularly importantbecause damp hands can transmit 500 morebacteria than dry hands. Also, it is the action ofrubbing the hands on a towel that produces frictionthat removes the upper layer of dead skin particles -and the bacteria living on it.Disposable paper towels are generally considered tobe the most hygienic hand drying option. Researchcarried out in Germany revealed that drying thehands with a paper towel cut the amount of bacteriapresent by an average of 24 per cent. Using a textiletowel reduced the amount of bacteria by only fourper cent, while drying the hands with a warm airdryer actually increased the bacteria by a massive117 per cent.In food processing and preparation areas, soapsshould be non-perfumed to avoid food spoilage andin some cases an antibacterial action may berequired. We offer Tork Premium Liquid Soap in nonperfumedand antibacterial versions. These areavailable in a dispenser operated by an arm lever toeliminate the need for hand contact with thedispenser.Good hand hygiene facilities are also important forcustomers in restaurants and pubs since unhygienicfacilities can be lethal. Diners with inadequatelywashed hands may return to the table or bar wherethey will immediately break into a bread roll or helpthemselves to peanuts from a communal bowl.These actions are a swift route to fecal-oralinfections. Many restaurant washrooms are nowequipped with doors that can be opened using thearm or elbow to prevent the problem of door handlesbeing contaminated by poorly-washed hands.Sensor-activated systems such as the TorkIt is gratifying that our environmentalpolicies are increasingly beingrecognised by external bodies.”Last year SCA scored the highestmarks in WWF’s Pulp and PaperIndustry Review for its CorporateResponsibility Reporting.In June 07 the company was namedthe world’s second greenest companyin the Green Leaders Global Top Ten,published by the Independentnewspaper in conjunction with EthicalInvestment Research Services. And in2006, SCA featured in the VigeoExcellence Index for the paper andforestry sector.The Global 100 includes companiesfrom 16 countries in sectors rangingfrom Oil and Gas to WirelessTelecommunication Services.Organisations were evaluatedaccording to how effectively theymanage environmental, social andgovernance risks and opportunities incomparison with industry peers.Reader Reply No: 111011Aluminium touch-free hand towel roll and foam soapdispensers can help to prevent cross-contaminationin restaurant washrooms. Other, manual Torkdispensers – such as those Tork interfold and handtowel rolls – are designed to ensure that each towelis touched only by the user.Low-maintenance systems for dispensing handtowels and soaps are crucial in restaurantwashrooms to avoid the risk of these running out.When available, an attendant can help maintainhand hygiene by continuously topping up thesupplies and wiping down fittings and handles.It is not only in restaurants and bars wherecustomers may leave the washroom and go on tohandle food afterwards. In large entertainmentvenues such as sports stadiums and festivals, manyvisitors go straight from the washroom to the hotdogor burger stand during the interval.Washrooms at large events are notorious for theirstandards. A recent survey carried out in Germanyby SCA Tissue Europe revealed that 75 per cent ofpeople were unhappy with the cleanliness levels oftoilets at large events.Where efficiency and hygiene are both important,disposable hand towels are again the best solutionsince these take only a few seconds to dry thehands compared with up to 50 seconds for a warmair dryer. Our own research shows that only 23 percent of people are willing to wait as long as it takesfor a warm air dryer to take effect, while theremaining 77 per cent admit to shaking their handsdry or wiping them on toilet tissue or their clothesinstead.Stadium visitors are potentially even less likely touse a slow process to dry their hands, since they willinevitably be in a hurry to return to their seats toresume watching the match or event.Wherever food is being handled, there is no excusefor poor hygiene facilities in the washroom. Userfriendlysoaps and towels and well- stockeddispensers that avoid the need for hand contact allplay their part in helping to cut down dangerouscross-contamination from the food washroom.Lotus Professionallaunches enSureCompact SystemLotus Professional haslaunched a new improvedversion of its compacttoilet tissue systemfollowing researchin the market.This has led toimprovements inthe dispenserdesign andreliability, while stillreducing washroomwaste and costs.The Compact System now hasa new slim-line dispenseravailable in two colours, white andblue, which match existing LotusProfessional washroom ranges. It hasbeen designed to be moreaesthetically impressive than itsforerunner, but also with new practicaldesign features that provide controlleddispensing and improved reliability.As well as the improvements to thedispenser, Lotus Professional has alsorecognised that washroom users arewashroomsincreasingly looking for a higherquality tissue and have introduced anew thicker and softer roll madefrom virgin pulp. This is inaddition to the one andtwo ply recycled rollscurrently available.Chris Lindsay, ProductCategory Manager LotusProfessional, said: “Thewashroom plays a vital role in theimage a company portrays to itscustomers – especially in areas suchas the hotel and restaurant industries.“At Lotus Professional we are proud ofour record of innovation and the newCompact System is an example of ourconstant search for improvement.”Importantly the changes in theCompact System have not been at theexpense of its traditional benefits. Itstill contributes to tidier washroomswith no litter from bathroom tissuerolls left lying on the floor and less riskof a blocked toilet.Reader Reply No: 11102629