Enhancing Health, Well-being And Facility Image By frequently sanitizing your hands, you reduce your risk of catching the virus du jour or spreading your sickness to other building occupants. health and well-being for restroom users and enhances the professional image of buildings.” Restroom appearance and building image are positively impacted because restroom users can resist the urge to avoid germs by opening exit doors with paper towels, which are then discarded near doorways. In addition, building managers who pro-vide hand sanitizers show that they care about the comfort and well-being of tenants and visitors. Instant hand sanitizers are of even greater importance in situations where water is not readily available. For instance, students — younger kids, especially — tend not to always take full advantage of nearby soap and water sources, and several studies have indicat-ed a connection between proper hand hygiene and illness-related absenteeism in schools. One such study, “Effect of hand sanitizer use on elementary school absenteeism,” which was published in the American Journal of Infection Control in 2000, involved five school districts and 6,000 stu-dents in four states. The overall reduction in absenteeism due to infection was 19.8 percent for schools that used an alcohol gel hand sanitizer compared with the control schools, which did not make hand sanitizers available. Health care facilities are another environ-ment in which waterless germ-fighting solu-tions are critical, since proper hand hygiene compliance is mandatory and the need is frequent. Studies, such as “Use of alcohol hand sanitizer as an infection control strategy in an acute care facility,” which was published in the American Journal of Infection Control in 2003, have proven that using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer as an infection control strategy in a hospital setting can reduce infection rates by 36 percent. “Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.” Those words of advice, courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), describe “everyday steps to protect your health.” People listened and developed good hand hygiene practices; but, the reality is that germs can be found in the workplace at any time. The ready availability of instant hand sanitizers in restrooms, as well as in such public areas as lobbies and meeting spaces, can make a major difference in the overall health of individuals working in close proximity to one another. Sustainable Performance Another concern of Americans today is greater sustainability. This is a primary concern within all pub-lic sectors, but especially in education and government settings. Hand hygiene products proven to be more sustainable are a distinct advantage to product users as well as to facility man-agement. “The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has a green cleaning prerequi-site for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) certification,” explains Nicole Koharik, global sustainability senior marketing manager at GOJO Industries. “In addition to promoting the health and well-being of tenants, employees and building visitors, green certified hand sanitizing solutions are ideal for helping meet the hand hygiene requirements for LEED-EBOM certification.” According to the USGBC, the LEED-EBOM green cleaning prerequisite requires the “development of strategies for promot-ing and improving hand hygiene, including both hand washing and the use of alcohol-based waterless hand sanitizers.” In addition to being a point of pride for tenants, LEED-EBOM certification is a dis-tinct competitive advantage for building management. That’s why it’s no wonder that more than seven billion square feet of commercial space worldwide is LEED-certified. Of all that you do to provide value for your clients and facilities, nothing could be sim-pler to implement than hand sanitizers. Moreover, few safeguard strategies can provide a greater sense of health and well-being. CM 22 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • November 2010 Image courtesy of GOJO Industries Inc.
CMM – Archives Nov 2010: 22
