CM/Spotlight: Restroom Care In The Soap Dispenser Bacteria may be lurking where workers and clients least expect it. By: Dave Shumaker DANGER A A growing body of scientific evidence supports the idea that refillable bulk soap dispensers may be working against your efforts to create a clean and healthy building environment. Science shows that hand hygiene is compro-mised by the practice of refilling bulk soap dis-pensers. Just as facility maintenance managers weath-ered the transition from bar soap to refillable dis-pensers years ago, today many are in the process of converting from refillable bulk soap dispensers to sealed dispensing systems. When this transition is complete, facilities man-agers will eliminate an unnecessary health risk while experiencing the many benefits that come with sealed dispensing systems. Soap dispensers that are not taken care of properly can become hosts for bacteria. Dave Shumaker is a micro-biology scientist with GOJO Industries. He is responsible for hand hygiene research, evaluation of novel antimi-crobial technologies as well as industrial and cosmetic microbiology. Dave received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology at Ohio University. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Infection Control . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select BUYERS’ GUIDE from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Soap. What Science Reveals Studies show that handwashers using soap from refillable bulk dispensers cannot be assured of the integrity of the product. Scientists have learned that refillable bulk soap dispensers can be contaminated easily by disease-causing bacteria. The disturbing truth is we cannot ensure hand-washers are reducing the amount of germs on their hands if they are using soap from refillable bulk soap dispensers. In fact, studies show people may leave rest-rooms with more germs on their hands than before washing. A recent study done in collaboration with scien-tist John Yablonski of Bio-Control Consultants, and which has been submitted for publication in a sci-entific journal, tracked the refillable bulk soap dis-pensers at a new school in New Jersey. The study concluded that 100 percent of the newly-installed refillable bulk soap dispensers pro-gressed from clean to grossly contaminated during normal use in a matter of months. Other studies have shown that in many buildings, the rate of contamination of bulk soap dispensers can be as high as 90 percent. A study published in the March 2011 Journal of Environmental Health shows one in four refillable bulk soap dispensers are contaminated with unsafe levels of bacteria and also reports zero contamina-tion found in sealed dispensing systems. 1 28 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • October 2013
CMM – Archives October 2013: 28
