In a tenant’s own home, hygiene is in their control. But the minute they step outside, it’s in someone else’s hands. This is especially true of an office, school or healthcare facility—because hygiene is in the building owner or facilities manager’s control.
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At the 2019 BOMA International Conference & Expo, building hygiene was an essential topic of concern from Essity, a global hygiene and health company.
“People are very comfortable at home knowing that hygiene is taken care of,” says Deb Mazzuca, key account manager at Essity. “But the second they step out of their houses and are away from home, the concern goes up on how clean is it? And usually they don’t have a clue how clean it is, and also many people don’t know how to efficiently get something clean.”
Essity then steps in to work with building owners and facilities managers to help them not only improve appearance but also things like determining which products help their building stay clean longer.
Becoming More Aware of Building Hygiene
Hotel guests are arguably hyper aware of what exactly could or could not be hygienically clean in their room—countless guests have been there before them. But that’s not the only realm where hygiene is top of mind.
In May 2019, a study found that the interior of a rideshare vehicle (Uber, Lyft, etc.) is 35,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat—with main contaminated touchpoints being the window switches and seat belts.
“Lodging has always been in the forefront of making sure is it clean?” Mazzuca says. “Because people literally are away from home in another home, so they’ve been very conscious of it. Now that’s spread to areas like an office building and other areas where people are going out in the public.”
[Related: Lighting’s Ability to Disinfect a Space]
What’s New From Essity
With all of that in mind, Tork, an Essity brand, showed off its new PeakServe Continuous Hand Towel System, a towel dispenser fit for high-traffic settings. One of its most notable features is that it can hold up to 35% more towels than other products.
“PeakServe has more capacity than any other dispenser and zero waste,” Mazzuca says. “That allows for the confidence in people to know that they always have a means to dry their hands efficiently after washing their hands.”
Tork’s EasyCube continues to be a worthwhile product from Essity. It’s a facility management software system that gives building owners and facilities managers real-time data on cleaning needs in their building.
For example, it can monitor how many people are in an area, such as a restroom, and allow the FM to set barometers (i.e. does it need to be cleaned after 100 people or 75?).
“The building owner or cleaner can be in front of it and have it clean before someone can recognize it’s not a hygienic area,” Mazzuca says, adding: “For the property manager or building owner to be able to know in advance that [an area] is not clean and to not have a tenant come in and say ‘I had a bad experience’ speaks for itself.”
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