washrooms
Exploring the latest hand-drying technologies and the impact they have on health and care environments
Hand dryers help drive efficiencies
W
ashrooms in hospitals, health centres and care homes are a recognised breeding ground
for potentially-harmful bugs. And hand hygiene is crucial to
reducing the spread of infection within these settings. Key to this is that people – staff,
visitors, residents and patients – can easily and effectively wash their hands – and dry them afterwards. Despite recent research suggesting
that good, old-fashioned paper hand towels are one of the most-hygienic hand-drying solutions (see p51); mechanical dryers are still being widely specified. And manufacturers are responding to
this demand with a plethora of new solutions, designed specifically to meet the key drivers for estates and facilities professionals.
A partnership approach SAVORTEX recently joined forces with Clearpower to distribute the former’s EcoCurve range, which is designed to deliver sustainability, energy and operational resource savings – hugely important in today’s cash-strapped society. “Good hand hygiene is essential in
preventing infections from spreading in health and social care environments,” said a company spokesman. “In many of these settings, patients may be more susceptible to picking up
infections; therefore hand hygiene is extremely important – especially as some infections found in these facilities can be very serious and sometimes fatal. “We can help stop the spread of
these infections by ensuring that healthcare workers, patients and visitors make sure their hands are clean through regular washing and hygienic drying methods.” Historically, hand dryers have
comprised of pretty-unhygienic brush motors. The air blown from the dryer passes through the motor, creating more pollution and dust particles. In order to address this, SAVORTEX
developed a patented brushless motor which is more efficient and has a lower carbon footprint. The warm air is delivered straight to
the users’ hands and significantly reduces the spread of bacteria due to splashback, which is a common problem for hands-in dryers.
Reducing the impact The dryer also uses the latest antimicrobial additives which protect against degradation and bacteria. Hygiene is also driving innovation at
Handy Dryers. Steve Levy, inventor of The Sterillo
and the company’s managing director, told hdm: “The inclusion of HEPA filters in many hand dryers is a bit of a gimmick with little actual benefit. However, some of the latest dryers
healthcaredm.co.uk 49
include devices which actually destroy the germs and viruses in the air, helping to reduce the spread of airborne infections such as flu and Norovirus.” Noise reduction has also had an
impact on product design, he added, together with the need to drastically cut energy use. He said: “In terms of environmental
health, modern solutions use almost 85% less power than they used to, ➤
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