LEISURE & RETAIL FACILITIES THE STADIUM WASHROOM


Open-air events such as music festivals and sports games are a highlight of the summer. But with stadium washrooms a low point, Steve Palmer from Tork manufacturer Essity, considers ways of addressing some of the issues.


Outdoor music and sporting events are a major attraction in the summer and they are becoming increasingly popular all the time.


Around 74.5m tickets for professional sports events were sold in the UK in 2017. This was an increase of around 7% on the previous year and the most since London hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.


Meanwhile, there has been a sharp increase in the number of music festivals held in the UK. Music lovers who would once plan their diaries around Glastonbury, Reading and the Isle of Wight now have more than 1,000 festivals to choose from including relative newcomers such as Download, Bestival and Wireless.


News reports seem to indicate that sports spectators and music-lovers will tolerate any amount of rain, scorching sun and deep mud when attending such events. But they are less willing to put up with terrible toilets.


In a recent survey commissioned by Tork and carried out by IPSOS it emerged that poor washrooms ranked higher on people’s lists of stadium negatives than factors such as crowd disorder, long queues or poor food and drink.


The online survey, which polled 3,000 stadium visitors, also revealed that more than 70% of stadium guests at one time or another had a bad washroom experience.


In a second study of 1,000 respondents it emerged that 44% of stadium visitors avoided using the washrooms altogether while attending an event. And because of this, 20% deliberately refrained from drinking – a practice that could lead to dehydration and other health effects besides having a negative impact on concession profits.


It is the sheer volume of traffic that makes event washrooms such as issue. The large crowds that congregate at sports matches and concerts tend to visit the washrooms at once - either before or after the event or during the interval.


These peaks in traffic lead to maintenance issues for cleaners while also putting pressure on supplies of toilet paper, hand towels and soaps. And when consumables run out, people will be forced to wait in line for those cubicles and sinks where supplies are still in place.


Our studies clearly show high levels of dissatisfaction with this situation among stadium visitors. And they also reveal some interesting insights into how people react after a poor washroom experience.


Almost 40% of guests say they went on to tell a friend or family member about it while around 3% of respondents referred to their negative washroom experience online.


40 | TOMORROW’S FM


However, only 11% of those who had had a bad experience complained to stadium staff at the time, while a mere 5% contacted the organisers afterwards. So this means more than 80% of all bad washroom experiences never actually come to the attention of the event staff.


People attending major UK events such as the Reading Festival, Glastonbury and Bestival can now pay a premium for access to clean loos with attendants, mirrors, hair straighteners and make-up zones. Flourishing businesses such as When Nature Calls and VIPees charge from £15 a day for the use of their facilities, so it is clear that many stadium visitors are no longer prepared to tolerate poor washrooms and are voting with their feet.


“More than 70% of stadium guests at one time or another had a bad washroom experience.”


However, stadiums can greatly improve their own facilities by making a few simple changes.


Hand drying is generally a sticking point because it often leads to queues - particularly where air dryers are installed because these take at least 10 seconds to dry the hands. Some stadiums opt instead for supplying loose hand towels and leaving them on the units for visitors’ use. But these create a messy environment since visitors will pick up one or two in a hurry and perhaps drop others on the floor in their impatience to return to their seat.


A similar problem occurs when C-fold towels are supplied in a dispenser, since most units allow the user to take out towels in clumps. Unused towels are then discarded and left to create a mess while the dispenser quickly runs out – leaving many people with no access to hand drying facilities.


Designed to speed up hand drying and improve washroom efficiency in busy facilities such as stadiums is Tork PeakServe Continuous Hand Towel.


This dispenses towels in a continuous loop which means that no pull force is required to take out a towel and there are no issues with jamming.


The unit serves more than 1,000 guests between refills – 600 more than other dispensers – which means that run- outs are not an issue even in particularly busy periods. And it takes just three seconds for the washroom visitor to take a towel and move away, freeing up space around 75% faster than they could with an air dryer.


twitter.com/TomorrowsFM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74