CLEANING & HYGIENE
COLOUR CODED
Dr Peter Barratt, Technical Manager at Initial Washroom Hygiene explores the power of colour over our behaviour in the workplace washroom.
In 2013, poor hygiene cost UK businesses an estimated £4.2bn due to employee illness and absence, a large proportion of which could have been prevented by good hygiene. Evidently, it is in the interest of business owners, facilities managers and individual employees to find ways of improving their hygiene practices in the workplace. Harnessing the persuasive power of colour is one new way of doing this.
The concept of colour affecting human behaviour is not a new phenomenon, and as the number of studies in this area increases, so too does our understanding of the different behavioural responses colour can elicit. Choosing the right colour for the washroom products in your business could bring real benefits to employee health (and workplace productivity) by encouraging more positive hygiene practices.
Coloured washroom products are designed to harness the power of colour psychology to promote good hygiene habits. Research has shown that 27% of office workers don’t wash their hands when visiting the washroom, which suggests that some encouragement is required.
Angela Wright, colour psychologist, author and founder of the Colour Affects System, highlighted the fact that there are universal, psychophysical reactions to colour that are common to us all – and they can be predicted.
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Blue affects our minds, yellow our emotions and green impacts on our sense of harmony and balance. However, Angela emphasised it is the way the colour is used, its exact tone, tint or combination with others, that influences whether it has a positive or negative impact. Pink can conjure up feelings of nurturing and mothering, but place it in the wrong context and it can feel smothering.
“RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT 27% OF OFFICE WORKERS DON’T WASH THEIR HANDS WHEN VISITING THE WASHROOM.”
Angela has worked with Initial Washroom Hygiene to identify colours that can improve behaviours in the washroom and, as a consequence, workplace health and business performance.
Through following these scientifically accepted colour principles, we are able to identify colours that inspire activity and cleanliness. In applying these colours to hygiene products, our aim is to leverage their power to drive improved hygiene behaviours. Turquoise is considered the most inspiring colour of all. The shade we have selected is reminiscent of a clear ocean on a sunny day to provoke fresh, clean thoughts and motivate improved hygiene behaviours.
Crucially, all the colours selected for our Signature COLOUR range occupy colour group one. This means that they all have warm yellow bases, which drive positive, proactive behaviour in washroom users.
At a relatively low cost, businesses have the potential to drive better washroom behaviours which will be beneficial to them and the wider economy. By altering poor hygiene habits and instilling an environment in which best practice can flourish, improvements can be seen in employee health, work productivity and office morale, which all contribute to reducing employee absenteeism.
While altering the colour of washroom equipment may be considered superficial and purely for the benefit of the aesthetics of the washroom, this small change should have a direct impact on washroom behaviour, which will in turn significantly reduce the chances of bacteria spreading among the workforce via cross- contamination. To further enforce this, antibacterial materials have been incorporated into the surface of the Signature COLOUR units to provide an added level of comfort for those using the washroom products.
Realising the benefits of colour and harnessing its power really does have the potential to reap commercial rewards for your business.
www.initial.co.uk/washroom-services
www.tomorrowshs.com
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