EDUCATION & STUDENT FACILITIES SECONDARY INFECTIONS
What are the challenges involved in equipping the washrooms of a secondary school? Essity’s Liam Mynes looks at issues such as messy units, wasted products, vandalism – and of course, the all-important need for hand hygiene.
One short year ago, pupils around the country were gearing up for major changes to their school lives ahead of the autumn term.
Schools would look very different in September 2020, they were told. COVID-19 cases were rising and various new measures were being proposed to keep them safe.
Face masks were to be worn in class and teaching was to be carried out in ‘bubbles’ so that a single case of COVID would not lead to the whole school having to close. And social distancing was to be imposed with the aid of one- way systems and floor markers.
“Around 60% of 13 – 17-year-olds admitted to lapses such as failing to wash their hands before eating and after using the washroom.”
These measures remained in place for much of the academic year – or at least those parts when schools were allowed to remain open. But they were not without their problems.
Social distancing was difficult to enforce among exuberant youngsters, for example, and there were concerns that face masks would obstruct communication and impede learning. And, while bubble systems did succeed in allowing schools to remain open during the pandemic, they led to entire groups having to self-isolate multiple times whenever one of their number tested positive. This led to some 33m lost school days last autumn term alone.
This year everything has flipped back again and students are facing the exact opposite scenario as they return to school. Face masks, social distancing and bubbles have all been scrapped as the nation moves ever closer to the new normal.
But the situation remains fluid. The pandemic is by no means over and the cooler autumn weather may well bring more COVID-19 infections, more hospital admissions – and maybe even more of the dreaded new variants.
With several of last year’s safeguards having been removed, there now needs to be an even greater emphasis
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on cleaning and hand hygiene to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and of other infections.
Some schools are employing extra cleaners to ensure that all high-touch areas are scrupulously cleaned at regular intervals. Particular attention is being paid to items such as exercise equipment, water fountains, door handles and lockers and care is being taken to prevent the risk of germs being spread from one surface to the next.
Cross-contamination via the hands is a definite risk in a secondary school. A recent global study of teens examined the hand hygiene practices of 354,422 adolescents in 92 countries and concluded that their hand hygiene was generally poor. Around 60% of 13 – 17-year-olds admitted to lapses such as failing to wash their hands before eating and after using the washroom.
So, why are adolescents such poor hand-washers? Perhaps they believe themselves to be at a low risk of becoming dangerously ill with COVID-19, or maybe they are simply unaware of the risks posed by unwashed hands. Teenagers are not renowned for their caution or patience, so if hand washing becomes difficult because there is no wash basin handy; the taps are stiff; the towel dispensers are hard to use or the soap supply has run out, they are likely to leave the washroom with unwashed hands.
For this reason, schools should equip their washrooms with long-lasting supplies of soap and paper in easy- to-use systems that help speed up hand hygiene. And students should be made aware of the reasons why hand hygiene is so important.
Foam soaps help to facilitate hand-washing because they are quick to lather. Tork Foam Soaps work well in schools because the dispenser contains 2,500 shots of soap compared with around 1,000 in most liquid soap systems, reducing the risk of run-outs. The dispenser also requires a particularly low push-force which makes hand-washing easier for younger students with weaker hands.
Hand dryers take at least 10 seconds to take effect, which is likely to try the patience of any youngster. Paper towels speed up hand drying while allowing the pupil to take a towel and dry their hands as they head for the exit. This prevents logjams and queues which can be time- consuming and frustrating – and could lead to the spread of infections.
Tork PeakServe is a good hand-drying solution for schools because it takes just three seconds to access a towel from the dispenser, allowing hand-drying to be carried out quickly and efficiently. The unit holds more than 2,000 towels to ensure a long-lasting supply, and the towels are given out singly to prevent the risk of
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