Germaphobes rejoice! Alternatives to touching the WC door at work -- Career Center Blog

January 21, 2010

Germaphobes rejoice! Alternatives to touching the WC door at work

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By Michelle Goodman
NWjobs

Despite the threat of communicable diseases like swine flu, we humans are not the most sanitary sort. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health in October found that only 32 percent of men and 64 percent of women wash their hands with soap after using a public restroom.

We're not just talking about a handful of people neglecting this basic hygiene principle. For this study, researchers secretly observed the hand-washing habits of a quarter million people at British gas station restrooms over a 32-day period. (Curiously, people were much more likely to wash their hands when reminded to soap up by a sign on the wall.)

But the British aren't the only ones guilty of unwashed hands. In September, the Soap and Detergent Association gave Americans a B- in hand hygiene. In a 2009 phone survey of 888 U.S. adults conducted by a third-party research firm, the association found that only 26 percent of people consistently washed their hands after coughing or sneezing. What's more, a 2007 study sponsored by the Soap and Detergent Association in conjunction with the American Society for Microbiology found that only 77 percent of us wash our hands after using a public restroom -- at all.

I know many of you use your shirt or a paper towel to open the restroom door at work after washing your hands. (I don't judge. I'm one of you.) And I apologize if the above statistics have you considering investing in a hazmat suit. There may, however, be a more reasonable solution: A couple of companies now offer products that allow you to open a restroom door without so much as laying a finger on it.

StepNpull sells a gadget that allows you to open an inward-swinging door with your foot (video here). Cost: $29.95 each, with bulk discounts available. (Note that this gadget won't work on a door with a knob.) And Sanidoor offers a high-tech spin on hands-free door opening: a sensor you wave your hand in front of, much like you would an automatic sink or towel dispenser (video here). Cost: $850 for each sensor (door not included), plus $250-$350 for installation of each unit.

For those who think their employer won't spring for such contraptions, you might want to remind them that workers who come in sick and spread their germs around -- including through bathroom door handles -- cost companies thousands of dollars in lost productivity each year.

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com

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Sharon | January 22, 2010 9:40 PM | Reply

With the H1N1 scare this year and all the vaccine hoopla I went a bit germaphobe and googled how to teach kids about germs at the start of the school year. Found a new program called Germ Smarts for kids and got it for home and for our child’s preschool. It was a bit pricey but has probably saved us hundreds as the kids have not been bringing home every germ on the planet from preschool and we are no longer playing the “pass the germ” game around the house! Simple program but huge difference in staying healthy for everyone.

Marybeth | January 25, 2010 9:35 AM | Reply

I cannot believe how many people DO NOT wash their hands after using the restroom. That is sooo gross!!! I don;t want your germs!

Andy Brucia | January 26, 2010 12:31 PM | Reply

One out of three men washing up seems low for the workplace, but not when out at restaurants and bars. I will spare you the tales of horror I have seen in men's rooms across America, but ladies, men are pigs.

I worked with 7 women at a job once, and one day I got a card on my desk. I opened it; it was a picture of a pig in a trough.

The caption inside read: Your name came up in conversation the other day.

And I am one of the three who wash!