Inclusive Hygiene in Public Restrooms

This idea of making hygiene more inclusive in public restrooms may not be the first thing facility managers think of, but it is a crucial area to focus on. In addition to being an essential step to reduce the spread of germs and disease, more easily accessible hygiene in public restrooms can also reduce complaints, improve customer satisfaction and boost business results. Luckily, there are simple strategies and solutions FMs can put in place to ensure customers and employees are able to comfortably practice proper hygiene.

Hurdles to hygiene – and what these mean for facilities

There are several barriers – some visible, and many invisible – that prevent restroom users from being able to accomplish proper hygiene. For example, around one in five Americans experience difficulties using soap or hand towel dispensers due to an injury, health condition (i.e., arthritis), physical capability or as a parent with a child. In addition, one in seven Americans cited loud noises as a source of difficulty, either personally or when assisting a child using public restrooms.

While these numbers may be surprising to facility leaders, what could be even more concerning to them is the impact this can have on their businesses’ bottom lines. It is critical for facility managers to understand the impact of inclusive hygiene in public restrooms, especially because they have the power to implement positive changes for the people they serve. Recent research from Tork found that 60 percent of people have a lesser opinion of businesses or venues whose hand hygiene facilities are challenging to use. It is even more significant to note that for high-traffic venues, such as sports stadiums or other entertainment spaces, nearly one-third of guests who avoid going to the restroom limit how much they eat and drink to do so. For any business, long lines to access the restroom, empty soap and paper towel dispensers and unclean bathrooms can impact customer satisfaction, and their willingness to return.

Hygiene products in public restrooms that are inadequate, or difficult to use can cost businesses a return customer visit, but on top of this, these can also create a less-than-ideal work environment for employees. Eighty-six percent of office employees cited cleanliness as the most important aspect of a good work environment, meaning a lack of investment in hygiene can lead to poor morale and dissatisfaction from staff. Furthermore, poor experiences drive complaints from employees, with 45 percent of total building complaints being related to the restroom – more than any other area of the workplace. It is essential for FMs to take a comprehensive approach to hygiene and to increase their knowledge of the barriers people experience when using the restroom.

But what does this look like? Some simple steps FMs can take to learn more about hygiene inclusivity include asking guests and employees about their experiences in the restroom. In addition, FMs should pay attention to their own experiences when using the restroom. Can something be improved to better support them in practicing proper hygiene? Chances are, if FMs notice something that could be improved in their own restroom hygiene experience, that change is likely to positively impact other users too.

Boosting business by offering better restrooms

For FM leaders, it may seem like a tall task to totally overhaul their hygiene products and services in the name of improving hygiene, but it does not have to be. There are several changes, both big and small, that businesses can make throughout their restroom facilities that can have a major impact on improving hygiene operations and customer and staff satisfaction. A great place to start is by evaluating the hygiene products being used across the facility’s restrooms.

Conducting an audit of the products provided to employees and guests in the facility’s restrooms can reveal where key problems for inclusive hygiene may exist. For instance, does the facility have air dryers, paper towel dispensers or both? Air dryers can spread 10 times more bacteria than paper towels, so implementing paper towel dispensers instead can be a more hygienic and inclusive option. High-capacity paper towels systems can serve a larger volume of guests between refilling, and paper towels can be used for multiple purposes, including cleaning surfaces and assisting guests in avoiding direct contact with faucets and door handles. On top of this, for people who are neurodivergent and struggle with increased sensitivity to loud noises, paper towels help them dry their hands effectively, while having a quieter, less stimulating, and overall, more enjoyable restroom experience.

Another area to consider is the quality of soap and hand sanitizer formulas being offered. Prioritizing soaps and sanitizers that are gentle and effective promotes an inclusive handwashing experience for guests who have skin sensitivities. In the U.S., over 31 million people suffer from eczema and may deal with skin irritation after using certain hand soaps. In addition to eczema, there are other conditions that can also cause sensitivity to specific ingredients or fragrances. When selecting soap and hand sanitizer products for the restroom, it is important to evaluate the ingredients to ensure they are gentle to skin, dermatologically tested and have been certified by reputable organizations, such as the National Sanitation Foundation.

In addition to skin sensitivity, mobility challenges are another common obstacle that can make public restrooms difficult to use. There are a multitude of causes behind why restroom users may have reduced hand function – such as age, injury, or certain medical conditions – so it is vital to select hand soap dispensers that are easy to use for guests with a wide range of mobility needs. When making decisions on which dispensers to install in a facility, it is important to think about the full functionality of the environment, taking into consideration bath tissue, paper towels, soap and hand sanitizer systems the restroom user will engage with. Restroom users who are challenged with a lack of hand mobility may find using buttons, handles or faucets in public restrooms more difficult. Dispensers that are certified easy to use can make it easier for restroom users with a wide range of mobility needs to access the hygiene products they need to properly practice good hygiene.

Leveraging data to improve hygiene access and quality

It is no secret that everyone appreciates a clean restroom. They are places where guests or employees go to practice proper hygiene and if the environment is not reflective of that, the user might avoid it. However, for guests who are hypersensitive to cleanliness, an unclean bathroom can lead to a traumatic experience, complaints, or further, avoiding visiting the facility all together.

For instance, between two and three million adults, and around 500,000 children have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). For people with contamination OCD – a subtype causing obsessive thoughts and fears of being contaminated, contaminating others and/or contracting and spreading illness – public restrooms are triggering, which can limit the types of places they visit and the quality of their experiences there. For the health and safety of staff and customers alike, a commitment to regular, thorough cleaning processes can ensure ongoing customer satisfaction and equal hygiene access for all.

An emerging and highly impactful way to ensure restroom cleanliness, improve cleaning efficiency and prevent product runouts is by implementing data-driven hygiene solutions. These systems collect insights from connected dispensers and help cleaning teams keep track of foot traffic and product capacity to inform where there are service and cleaning needs across the facility in real time. Armed with these insights, maintenance staff can better prioritize their time and efforts by focusing on areas with the highest need first and ensure that hygiene dispensers are stocked up to 99 percent of the time. This way, facilities can provide cleaner restrooms, and a more pleasant, hygienic experience for users of all backgrounds.

A win-win: creating inclusive hygiene in public restrooms

While many people, including facility managers, are unaware of the hygiene challenges the people who use their restrooms face, the importance of being able to fully practice proper hygiene in public restrooms cannot be understated. It is imperative to create a more inclusive hygiene experience in public restrooms not only because of the positive results it can bring to any type of organization, but also because it is the right thing to do. The first step is education – ensuring that people, especially the FMs who work tirelessly to provide excellent experiences for guests and employees, are aware of barriers to hygiene and how to overcome them.