Office bathrooms are usually a stinky, awful mess.
You have any number of people who don’t wipe down counters, pick up paper towels off the floor. And is there really a need in an adult environment to have to post a sign that says, “do not flush paper towels, they will clog the toilet”? How many people are really doing this? Who’s taking paper towels into the toilet stall in the first place? Are they really that much more comfortable than the typical office toilet paper to use? Really? REALLY?
Every year, the BRADLEY CORPORATION does an ANNUAL HANDWASHING SURVEY as a way to promote their business and raise awareness. (Web Watch has shared these before, if you recall)
This year the trend continues: Men are worse in the office bathroom than women are. While 8% of workers say that the frequently see co-workers leave the restroom without washing their hands, it’s more commonly seen in the men’s room than the women’s room.
Here are some more of the details from the survey:
- 74% of women say that they always wash their hands vs 60% of men who say they do
- Women tend to use hand sanitizer if they don’t wash their hands. Men would as well, but not as often as they said “no soap was available”.
- Men were 2.5 times more likely to not wash their hands than women because they DIDN’T FEEL THE NEED TO DO SO.
- 81% of Americans say they’ve seen someone not wash their hands in a public restroom
And how do you deal with touching germ-filled items in the public toilet?
- 64% will flush with their foot
- 60% use a paper towel to operate the door handle
- 37% use a paper towel to operate the water faucet
- 48% will open or close the door with their hip