Restroom Germs

We all use the public restroom at one time or another, usually at a school, office, theatre, store or sporting event. Thousands of people visit these same restrooms. One can only imagine how many varieties of microbes are left by these users on doors, faucets, soap dispensers, towel dispensers, and toilet flushers. The best public restrooms will provide automated, sensor-operated dispensers, toilet flushers, and a sanitary door opener so that the public is protected from cross-contamination by disease-causing microbes that can thrive on these objects.

Lately, modern airports and theatres have installed the "s-curve" exits, eliminating exiting via a door. First we usually start with flushing a toilet and these tips can help. If you have to flush yourself, use your foot instead if possible or shield your hand with toilet tissue. Aerosoled droplets will reach twenty feet from a flushing toilet so turn your head away.

After opening the stall door, wash your hands. Hopefully the soap dispenser and water faucet are sensor-operated, if not, try to operate them with your wrist or back of the hand, especially the water faucet because now your hands are clean and you want to keep them clean.

Next deal with the towel dispenser. We are seeing more of the touchless variety or center-pull type where you are dispensed a sanitary towel. When there is no way to exit without touching a door, use that towel to open the door and toss it in the nearby trash can. Leave it on the floor if there is no trash bin so as to make the restroom maintenance aware that they should place the trash near the door.

One word about those automatic hand dryers, if they are provided instead of a towel dispenser, use some toilet tissue to dry your hands. Unfortunately they are not cleaned regularly and spew out any germs in them. Following these steps will not only protect you from picking up germs left by prior users, but also decrease microbes left by your use.

Careful Food Handling A Must

We've all been told about potato salad in the summertime. Don't leave it unrefrigerated for long, and throw it out if it is not cold anymore. Also responsible cooks and chefs will wash their hands before preparing food. What's more when we order at a Subway, we can feel secure that the person making our sandwich has on vinyl gloves so therefore our food is not contaminated.

Wrong. What we don't know is how the different food items were prepared. Did the food handler wash his or her hands before cutting up the vegetables and other items? Did he or she also handle other objects, thereby contaminating the food? Even if a person wears gloves to handle food, if he or she touches other objects those gloves are contaminated That also goes for cooking utensils while they are being used.

After handwashing, the best way to dry hands is with a sanitary towel. That means using a touchless towel dispenser. They can be wall-mounted or countertop types. Both are sensor-operated dispensers so that one gets a clean towel each time. This should be done before and after food handling.

For foods other than meats and chicken a soap and water cleanup is sufficient, otherwise a disinfectant spray or wipe should be used on all surfaces touched by chicken and other meats to prevent the spread of Salmonella and e.coli

Germridden Keyboards

For those of us who work in an area that is shared by other workers, here is some advice on how to avoid germs that might cause illness. People who are sick should stay home, but sometimes they are just coming down with something and do not realize it. Even healthy people can contaminate a work area with their hands. A lot of cross-contamination happens when individuals pickup germs from objects and then touch other objects with unsanitary hands.

Common places where germs thrive in the workplace are phones, elevator buttons, door knobs, restrooms, copy and fax machines, pens and pencils, and keyboards. Tests were conducted to see how contaminated these different objects were. By far, shared keyboards harbored more disease-causing germs than a toilet seat. Hard to believe, but true. Different users add their own variety of microbes to the keys and usually the keyboards are not sanitized.

Waterproof keyboards are available. Some can even be put through a dishwasher cycle to clean (but not on the heat cycle). Disinfectants can be used on them also, either disinfectant wipes or spray. A waterproof mouse that can be sanitized protects the user even further. Hospitals, schools, industrial offices, and other places could really prevent some sick days by installing these keyboards