“Employees must wash hands before returning to work.” This sign was found in the restroom of a famous Seattle-based coffee franchise. Why do they focus on employee cleanliness? Because even a short list of foodborne illness vectors contains such delicacies as campylobacter, hepatitis A, shigella, E. coli O157:H7, salmonella, and other lovely organisms. And if customers were to become ill from eating at this establishment, that would not be good for profits.
One of the most simple, cheap, and effective means to prevent foodborne illnesses is to have employees practice strict sanitary hand washing procedures. Hence the signs. But there is one small problem – the public often share the same restroom facilities with the employees, and the sanitary habits of the public cannot be underestimated.
Knowing that, the food service provider posts a sign instructing her employees to follow a strict hygienic procedure. The instructions on this sign are as follows:
- Water
- Soap
- Wash (for 30 seconds)
- Rinse
- Dry
- Turn off water (with paper towel)
Why turn off the water with a paper towel? Obviously, because if a previous user of the facilities did not practice good hygiene, the faucet handles might be contaminated with one or more of the lovely aforementioned disease vectors. Gee, I wonder if that applies to the door handle as well?
There were a few problems at this particular establishment… in spite of the sign, there were no paper towels. Only a hot air hand dryer. And the door most unhelpfully opened inward. So how is one to shut off the faucets and open the door without contaminating your hands? And if you, a customer, can’t do it , then how can the guy behind the counter do it?
I recommend that when you run into a situation where you can’t satisfactorily exit the restroom with assuredly clean hands, you need to complain to management that his employees can’t either.
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