Bathroom hygiene: protecting users from infections

Taking on the new normal is not easy because the threat is valid and risk of getting infections still remains

Understanding the basic hygiene protocols helps reduce our vulnerability against prevalent germs and resultant diseases. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it’s important to acknowledge the importance of disinfection and strict hygiene measures especially when it comes to cleaning bathrooms. Bathrooms are one of the most used rooms in house but in offices, it’s a completely different scenario – one that needs to be comprehended aptly to better tackle the presenting challenges.

Most of the hygiene issues directed towards bathroom are usually because of the number of uses, poor ventilation, presence of water, closed spaces, and surfaces that get high audience without appropriate intervals. By appropriate intervals we mean the meantime required to clean/ disinfect the bathroom in between uses.

Cleaning the bathroom appropriately can help reduce the risk of catching different diseases by a great number and this has been proven by different studies and experts. Not only are the bathroom surfaces full of bacteria and viruses but the air inside is contaminated with trace particles of fecal matter all around- you wouldn’t have ever thought that, would you?

There are way too many good bathroom cleaners out there but effective cleaning is directly proportional to suitable usage strategy. Each surface should be considered as contaminated with germs and bacteria and subsequent hygiene measures should be taken because health of all individuals using the bathroom is at stake here. Washing your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds is indeed the best measure that one can take to protect themselves but what about the surfaces?

Cleaning the air

One of the most important issues that should be focused is toilet sneeze. The effect caused by flushing the toilet inside the toilet bowl leads to the spray of germs all around the bathroom within a minute. In times like these, when hygiene is extremely important, always close the lid before flushing.

Studies show that doing so reduces the spread of germs up to 12 times – an amazing thing to know and implement. The aerosols dispersed during the usage can remain dispersed in the air for hours and if proper precautions are not taken, this might prove collectively detrimental for user’s health.

Studies revealed that coronavirus was present in about 55% of patients’ feces and same was the case with SARS outbreak in Hong Kong that led to a great loss of lives in just a couple of days. Though any such event is unlikely to happen again but it’s essential to realize the importance of bathroom hygiene and clean air.

Cleaning your hands

There’s nothing as important as hand hygiene when it comes to eradicating the spread of different diseases because contaminated hands, in most cases, are the carrier of germs into the body. Definitely, in this case toilet cleaning and cleaning your hands is equally important because one can’t use the facility without touching many surfaces.

People using bathrooms, apart from picking germs can also bring with them different microbes into the bathroom, so it becomes equally important for everyone to wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. They physical act of scrubbing and rubbing is indispensable to keeping your hands clean because it is known to kill the virus by breaking the outer protective covering present on them.

Cleaning the surfaces

Consider every surface contaminated and infected when you are about to use the bathroom. This would help you stay vigilant and ultimately protect you from unseen germs lurking all around you. As for the cleaning part, each surface should be scrubbed with a good toilet cleaner or sprayed with a disinfectant spray and then wiped.

This process should be repeated multiple times in a day because each time someone uses the facility, germs begin to develop and colonize. Lack of ventilation and presence of water traces can make matters worse.

The availability of hand sanitizers and disposable soaps should be assured by the office management in order to better protect the employees from potential health hazards. Use of disinfecting wipes and sanitizing solutions should be promoted and encouraged. As a general rule, everybody should be asked to wear masks even in bathrooms, points of contact should be minimized or better yet eliminated. These are some of the bathroom hygiene steps that should be followed for better protection against different diseases.

If you still have any questions, you can contact us right away. We’ll be more than happy to help you out.