Why Paper Towels are the smart choice for drying hands?
Single-Use Paper Towels: The Smart Choice for Public Washrooms Are you exploring hand drying solutions for your public washrooms?
Effective hand hygiene is crucial to minimise the spread of infection. Public washrooms, which serve many people each day, must offer a safe and effective method for hand drying.
Single-use paper towels are the optimal choice.
When compared to other hand drying methods, scientific studies and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend paper single use towels as the most hygienic choice. In fact, many healthcare authorities are stipulating that only paper towels be used as the method of hand drying in hospitals.
1) Offer Protection Against Disease
Electric hand drying devises and especially Jet Air Dryers can spread pathogenic micro-organisms. Viruses can survive on hands for a considerable time: Influenza lasts 10-15 minutes, Herpes for up to two hours, the common cold for up to one week and Rotavirus, which causes gastro-intestinal infections, for up to 60 days. Proper hand washing and hand drying are essential to minimise infection. Paper towels spread significantly fewer bacteria and viruses – both on surfaces and in the air – to offer the least contaminated washroom environment. Numerous studies by some of Europe’s leading microbiologists and bacteriologists confirm that paper towels offer the most hygienic option for hand drying. Read more about academic studies by Keith Redway, Senior Academic in Microbiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, UK and Professor Mark Wilcox, MD, Consultant Microbiologist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals, UK and Eurofins-Inlab, Ruhr, Germany.
2) Preferred by Washroom Users
Paper towels receive the thumbs up from washroom users. They are soft and absorbent, and do not make a loud, disturbing noise like jet air dryers. Paper towels are quick and efficient to use and do not require users to wait in line. They simply take a towel, dry their hands and leave. And if you need to dry your face, they are suitable too. An observational study of almost 4,000 people at the Interclean trade fair confirms that the vast majority of users prefer paper towels over jet air dryers for hand drying in public washrooms. The study observed the behaviour of visitors in the men’s and women’s facilities. Although each washroom offered both a jet air dryer and paper, 90% or more of both men and women chose to dry their hands with paper towels. Some of the jet air dryer users even used paper towels to finish drying their hands!
3) Endorsed by Experts
Six experts working in hospitals and universities in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UK signed an eight-point consensus: Hand drying: an important part of hand hygiene. It highlights the importance of hand drying and explains that air dryers blow water with microbes off of the hands and into the air, contaminating others in the washroom.
• Professor Silvio Brusaferro, MD, Professor of Public Health, University of Udine, Italy
• Professor Bertil Kaijser, MD, Professor and Senior Consultant Clinical Bacteriology, Sahlgrens University, Sweden
• Dr. Ralf Kämmerer, Senior Expert at TUV Rhineland, Germany
• Keith Redway, Senior Academic in Microbiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, UK
• Prof. Dr. Marc Van Ranst, Professor of Virology and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Leuven in Belgium
• Professor Mark Wilcox, MD, Consultant Microbiologist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals, UK
Read the full CONSENSUS STATEMENT here:
Respected healthcare bodies from around the world, including WHO (World Health Organization) and the US Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) have endorsed the superior hygiene of paper towels for hand drying, following proper hand washing.
Learn more:
4) Sustainable, economic
and Energy Efficient
Paper towels offer an energy efficient solution. Housed in a simple dispenser, single-use paper towels do not require electricity to operate. Since they do not need to be laundered following use, they save both water and energy resources.
Single-use paper towels are made using cellulose from sustainable forests. Since they offer superior absorbency, washroom users can dry their hands effectively with just one or two towels.
Learn more about the sustainability of Paper Products
5) Easy to Install and Maintain
Paper towel dispensers are easy to install and maintain in public washrooms. They are space-efficient and can be attached to any wall in a matter of few minutes.
Maintenance does not require special expertise. Dispensers can be easily wiped during daily cleaning of washroom facilities and replenished with paper towels by janitors and cleaning staff throughout the day.
.
European Tissue Symphosium – Kunstalaan 44 Avenue des arts – B1040 Brussels – Belgium
Email: Info@europeantissue.com
Copyright 2018 European Tissue Symphosium
