cleanthoughts Humor The power of clean, well-stocked and properly maintained restrooms is nothing to laugh at. Toilet Publisher Matt Gallinger mgallinger @ ntpmedia.com Associate Publisher Micah Ogburn mogburn @ ntpmedia.com Editorial Director Rich DiPaolo rdipaolo @ ntpmedia.com Managing Editor Aaron Baunee abaunee @ ntpmedia.com Assistant Editor Amanda Martini-Hughes [email protected] Account Executives Susan Pierce spierce @ ntpmedia.com Pat Harrington [email protected] Art Director Marty Harris marty @ grandviewmedia.com ext. 3159 ext. 3179 (516) 404-4532 ext. 3157 C Commercial restrooms are notoriously one of the most difficult areas in a facility to hygienically clean and keep clean. Not only are restrooms literal toxic waste stations, but their high foot traf-fic puts an added burden on custodial professionals with increasingly robust workloads. Building occupants demand clean rest-rooms — both visually and olfactorily — and will largely base their opinions on an establishment and its cleaning and main-tenance efforts on the state of said area. This is not always a fair assessment, though, because restroom “cleanliness” is a subjective appraisal. For example, a restroom may have been cleaned moments before a patron makes a stop; but, because another end-user has splashed water onto the countertop or left paper towels or toilet tissue strewn on the floor, the perception is that the restroom is “filthy” and “unkempt.” I am not entirely innocent when it comes to the aforementioned acumen. If I enter a malodorous restroom — after applying my best Inspector Gadget-like skills to quickly diagnose the problem before notifying the proper authority, if applicable — I make a point to not fre-quent that particular restroom. Moreover, when I see soiled grout lines, refuse on the floors — be it hair, paper product scraps or dust — and any num-ber of indicators signaling less-than-opti-mal cleanliness, I form a negative opinion about the cleaning staff and the facility as a whole. Such surmising is not always justified — maybe the operation is short staffed or the restroom saw an unusually high num-ber of users that day — but it is human nature to find the responsible parties and hold them accountable. Say What? According to a recent telephone survey conducted on behalf of Cintas Corporation, more than 75 percent of U.S. adults would avoid a restaurant, hotel or medical facility if they encountered a dirty restroom. The study, which reiterates the notion that if customers are not satisfied with the perceived cleanliness of a restroom they will take their business elsewhere, con-cluded that restrooms in disrepair cost businesses sales, referrals and potential repeat business. It turns out that restroom patrons have a realistic reason to be weary. As evidenced by a study that appeared in the August 2011 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control , touching one contaminated surface — also known as a fomite — can spread bacteria to up to the next seven surfaces touched. This means that the public’s predispo-sition to avoid unclean restrooms is an infection avoidance technique. Of course, there are numerous other surfaces to which the germs and bacteria may have mitigated — this is part of the larger cleaning for health issue — but the focus in this rant is restrooms. The key point is to spread such knowl-edge not only to the remaining quarter of the public, but also to custodial and maintenance professionals who have an affect on the level and frequency of rest-room cleaning. CM ext. 3154 (256) 715-0342 ext. 3153 Director of Business Operations Michael Perkins mperkins @ ntpmedia.com ext. 3133 Ad Materials Manager Rebecca Wilson [email protected] CMI ® Administrative Manager Sharon Hillis shillis @ ntpmedia.com ext. 3138 ext. 3165 Editorial, Advertising & Publishing Offices NTP Media, division of 19BritishAmericanBlvdWest•Latham,NY12110-6405 (518) 783-1281 FAX: (518) 783-1386 Subscription Questions or Inquiries Toll Free (866) 721-4807 Outside U.S. (847) 763-1867 or email [email protected] Subscribe / Renew / Change of Address: http://www.cmmonline.com/subscribe Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608 Canada Returns to be sent to: Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 Corporate General Manager Barry Lovette [email protected] Vice President of Operations [email protected] Brent Kizzire Chief Marketing Officer, Publishing Services Group [email protected] Hank Brown Vice President of Business Publishing [email protected] Tracy Aston-Martin Vice President of Finance [email protected] Brad Youngblood Director of Circulation & Fulfillment [email protected] Delicia Poole Associate Director of Circulation [email protected] Brandy Pate Circulation Manager, Electronic Products Stacie Murphree [email protected] Honorary Advisory Board: Aaron Baunee, managing editor Send comments or thoughts on this topic or any other article that appears in CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® magazine, to [email protected]. Mike Adams, Greenfield, IN; Stephen Ashkin, Bloomington, IN; Jim Brewer, Arlington, TX; Laura Dellutri, Lenexa, KS; Ron Goerne, Bloomington, IL; Russell Kendzior, Southlake, TX; Don McNulty, Blue Springs, MO; Bob Merkt, West Bend, WI. CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management Online™ Service at www.cmmonline.com 4 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • September 2011
CMM – Archives Sept 2011: 4
