Automatic


fixtures make it easier for


everyone to use the hand hygiene facilities.”


hinder their enjoyment of food and drink in public.


According to our survey, 73% of respondents said they felt unsafe when they were unable to wash their hands when out and about, while 38% claimed to avoid eating or drinking to reduce their risk of needing to use a washroom.


A recent Tork European Roundtable on Inclusive Hygiene in Public Washrooms brought together experts from design, facilities management, public health and lived experience groups in a bid to identify the critical improvements required to remove invisible hygiene barriers in washrooms. The discussion reinforced a central principle: it is the environment, and not the people, who are the barrier.


Roundtable participants discussed the need for washrooms to be designed to cater for everyone, not just the typical user. Suggestions for making these facilities easier to use included providing lever handles or sensors for operating mixer taps and toilet flushes, and installing dispensers at reachable heights that require a low-force operation.


They agreed that efforts needed to be made to render the environment more comfortable for people with arthritis, skin sensitivities, neurodivergent users and general hygiene concerns. Ultra-white washrooms were considered to be unhelpful for the visually-impaired since the lack of contrast makes it difficult to pick out dispensers from the wall. Participants also called for washrooms to have a predictable navigation and simple guides to remove ambiguity.


Automatic fixtures make it easier for everyone to use the hand hygiene facilities. Plus, it makes perfect sense that all dispensers should be easy and intuitive to use, even for people with low hand strength.


Hand towel dispensers which give out towels automatically or that self-present are easier to use than an overstuffed unit. The towels themselves should be sufficiently soft and user-friendly to avoid aggravating any skin conditions. Noise levels on air dryers should be kept as low as possible to protect those who are sensitive to sound.


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Toilet paper should be housed in a dispenser from which it is easy to extract the tissue. Folded toilet tissue sheets or units that require the paper to be pulled out from the front require less dexterity than a jumbo roll where the user may struggle to find the end of the roll inside.


For example, the Tork SmartOne toilet paper dispenser gives out paper from the front of the unit and the tissue is protected before use to prevent contamination or spoilage. The dispenser design also enables users to take out sheets easily with one hand.


The availability of public toilets has significantly declined across Ireland over the past 50 years due to factors such as vandalism, high maintenance costs and anti-social behaviour. The fact that the pee.ie app – designed to help people find a washroom when they need one – only lists 700 public facilities throughout the whole island shows how limited toilet provision is. Many people now have to rely on service stations, cafes and pubs for toilet access and, as of 2024, there were only around 20 Changing Places facilities across the country.


The good news is that more Changing Places toilets are coming soon, following the 2023 amendment to Building Regulations. This states that Changing Places facilities are now mandatory in certain new public buildings such as hospitals, shopping centres, schools and transport hubs.


However, it is important to consider broader needs. Around 95% of people who report a physical or cognitive condition that hinders their washroom use are not actually wheelchair users: instead, they may have one of the needs or conditions listed above such as skin sensitivity, anxiety, rheumatism or chronic pain.


Hopefully, the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design will continue to influence the design and layout of Ireland’s public washrooms and work towards providing more hygienic facilities which can be used by as many people as possible.


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