“‘Hand Drying Dilemma: Exploring the Impact on Infection Control’” was the title of the presentation by Prof. Wilcox to the audience of the Healthcare Facilities Management Conference held in Birmingham at The National Conference Centre on the 12th of September.
HFM is the only conference specifically dealing with ‘soft facilities’ management in the NHS. The delegation consisted of 300 Facilities Services leads from NHS England and Wales. All aspects of cleaning and Hygiene were covered and speakers included Emma Brookes, Head of Soft FM Strategy, NHS England and Philip Shelley, Senior Operational and Policy Manager, NHS England. Professor Mark Wilcox was among the speakers of the Conference programme.
The HFM conference organised by Knowlex, has been designed to address key areas within healthcare soft facilities management which include domestic services, portering, hotel services, laundry, waste, transport and food. These stakeholders are often responsible for making the decisions about which hand drying materials are used in healthcare facilities.
ETS was present with a booth, where many delegates stopped by to have more informations about the last study of Professor Wilcox:
Assessment of potential for viral contamination via aerosols generated during hand drying
Scientists have found that drying hands with jet air dryers produces more aerosols than when drying them with paper hand towels. Contamination of hand dryer users by splattering was found to be 10-fold higher when using jet air dryers than when using paper towels, and contamination of other washroom users was also significantly greater.
The findings will have important implications for those responsible for equipping public washrooms. Whether restaurant and bar owners or procurement managers responsible for facilities in large sporting and shopping complexes, they are likely to review the hand drying equipment that they offer. It is clear that the method of hand drying has the potential to impact airborne dissemination of microbial pathogens – including respiratory viruses – so potentially increasing risk of exposure and infection for other washroom users. Armed with this knowledge, decision makers will be eager to provide customers with the most hygienic option: paper towels.
You can download the full study here
About ETS
ETS is the European Tissue Paper Industry Association. The members of ETS represent the majority of tissue paper producers throughout Europe and around 90% of the total European tissue production. ETS was founded in 1971 and is based in Brussels. For more information: www.europeantissue.com.
Editorial contacts:
duomedia
Dorien Cooreman | tel. +32 2 560 21 50 | dorien.c@duomedia.com
ETS
Carlos Reinoso | carlos.reinoso@europeantissue.com
