Help to avoid these common unhygienic washroom habits

Clean and hygienic public washroom is a common basic facility for every shopping mall. However, a research from Initial Hygiene Malaysia shows that 20% of customers choose not to wash their hands due to a shortage of soap and paper towels in the washroom. The inconvenience of not having the complete hygiene facilities might end up caused trouble for customers resorting to either leaving after a quick window shopping or look for another shopping mall instead. Hence, what are the unhygienic habits that you can avoid that will bring about an increase in customer footfall?

1. "Shoes marks on the washroom bowl"

Squatting washrooms are part of Malaysia's culture, however even on non-squatting washroom, squatting habits continue and hence marked the infamous shoes mark. Even though there are educational stickers educating users not to stand on sitting washroom, unfortunately, there are 30% of the respondents refused to sit on the washroom seat, fearing that it might be contaminated. Hence, looking for another washroom will definitely be one of customer’s choices whenever they spotted any shoes scruff and marks left behind on the washroom seat.

So, to provide a peace of mind to your customers, it is important to have toilet seat cleaner in every cubicle. By having toilet seat cleaner installed, customers can sanitise and wipe away the germs and bacteria such as E.coli and Salmonella which may increase the risk of food poisoning and urinary tract infection on the toilet seat. Besides providing an extra level of assurance to your customer, you can also save up the unnecessary maintenance cost where washroom seat might get easily spoilt due to the wrong squat culture.

2. Germs stay alive on hands up to 3 hours

A research findings from Initial Hygiene Malaysia shows that only 51% of customers always wash their hands with soap. How about the rest? Did you know the impacts of not washing your hands in proper ways? You may easily transmit cross-contamination to your loved ones through different touch points surfaces in a day and also potentially infected by diarrhoea diseases after having a meal with your unhygienic hands.

It is necessary to have hand soap dispenser in the washroom for your customer to practise good hand hygiene habits in keeping germs away. Always remember, regularly wash your hands with soap more than 20 secs can help to eliminate bacteria on hands and reduce cross-contamination infection.

3. Bloody mess in washroom

It’s scary when your customer encountered problems such as the feminine hygiene waste left openly on the floor with flies flying around in the washroom. Probably the bin was full or it could be the last person who used it did not wrap the waste and dispose it properly into the feminine hygiene unit. Research from Initial Hygiene Malaysia shows that women customers would complain about the lack of feminine hygiene units, thus causes foul smells being emitted from improper disposal of feminine waste and these might lead to pest infestation in the washroom.

While menstruation can be an uncomfortable experience for women, proper washroom facilities can help ease your female customer's worries and make them feel appreciated and cared for. Furthermore, providing proper female hygiene unit can prevent your customers from throwing feminine waste into the toilet bowls which can cause severe property damage. You could avoid spending on this maintenance cost and at the same time provides a good washroom experience to female customers.

4. Wet surface in washroom

Did you know wet hand can spread 1,000 times more germs than dry hands? However, some customers will choose to dry their hands in improper ways such as shake off the water onto the floor and quick wipe on their clothes; some will not even bother to dry their hands due to lack of hand drying facilities such as paper towel or hand dryer. These may cause dissatisfaction from customers at the same time will also increase the chances of slips, trips, and falls accidents to happen at your business premises.

To prevent such untoward accidents, having floor mat properly placed in suitable locations will help to trap water and reduce the risk of slip, trip and fall, ensuring your customers safety while using the washroom.

Last but not least, washroom is the place where cross contamination is common and accidents are prone to happen if safety measures are taken lightly. Hence, providing the right hygiene amenities will help your customers cultivate good washroom habits and thus increase their dwell time in your business premise. Living by our mission “Protecting People, Enhancing Lives”, Initial Hygiene Malaysia is here to help you elevate the hygiene services for your business in driving better experiences for your customers. Contact us at 1300-88-2388 or submit your enquiry on our website.