September 28, 2022
Act early to avoid cold and flu season bringing your business down
Flu and cold season is right around the corner, with influenza peaking at the height of winter, according to the CDC.*
At this time of year, your business is most at risk from a loss of productivity through increased sick days, not to mention loss of reputation if you don’t have a solid line of defence against germs. With 80% of germs spread by hands, high quality hand hygiene solutions make up the defences for your facility and clearly communicate that you prioritise user safety.1
Invest in quality hand hygiene solutions now to protect your bottom line for when infectious diseases are at their peak transmission. Take a look at our hand hygiene winter essentials – the first line of defence that will keep your facility safe for the winter.
Don’t let poor hand hygiene endanger your business’ reputation this winter
While COVID-19 is now endemic, the pandemic prompted a paradigm shift in expectations around cleanliness of facilities and how people view their health and safety that is set to stay. The quality of your hand hygiene is now inseparably tied to your business’ reputation – and your bottom line.
Increased sick days can cost your business more than you think. Workers average three sick days per year. Studies show that if your business has just 100 employees, this could cost £35,100 a year in productivity.2
What’s more, as we move into the cold and flu season, the themes of visibility, quality and frequency of hand hygiene provision thread through both consumer and employee expectations.
Users are on higher alert during cold and flu season. This not only applies to your consumers’ perceptions, but to your employees’ too. 87% of employees say how a company demonstrates its commitment to employee health and wellbeing influences their decision on where they work.3 A lack of or bad quality hand hygiene conveys a poor impression to many employees and can make a real impact on employee satisfaction and, directly or indirectly, increase employee turnover.
The potential cost to your business should not be underestimated. Studies report that replacing a salaried employee costs six to nine months of the salary in recruiting and training expenses alone, in addition to lost productivity and other indirect costs.4 Prioritising employee health and wellbeing is crucial to maintaining high levels of satisfaction and hand hygiene is an important piece of the puzzle.
Building confidence in your facility
Let’s look more closely at the themes of visibility, quality and frequency, which are so important to user confidence.
87% of organisations surveyed in RCP’s Changing Workplaces research agreed that the quality of hand hygiene products influences how customers perceive their brand. Visibility is an even greater factor, with 93% of facilities reporting that visibility of hand hygiene measures influences their users’ perceptions of their band of facility.5
However, increasing the visibility and frequency of hand hygiene solutions can in fact cause further issues down the line if it is treated as a ‘check box’ exercise. Commonly, this leads businesses to buy bulk fill sanitisers or soaps that are cheap upfront but quickly prove uneconomical.
The risks of bulk fill soap and sanitisers
Bulk fill soap dispensers need to be cleaned effectively before the soap is replenished. This rarely happens, meaning when soap is replenished and topped up, it allows airborne pathogens to enter the dispenser. As a result, at least 1 in 4 refillable soap dispensers in public washrooms are contaminated, increasing the risk of illness.6 An infected dispenser must then be replaced, and the cheap short-term solution becomes expensive.
With increased use in the winter, cheaply made dispensers are also more prone to breaking, causing distrust among your facility users who expect high quality hand hygiene. This considered, increased visibility can become a burden for your business if your solutions in fact inspire apprehension.
Taking the steps to implement a high quality hand hygiene system without bulk fill sanitisers gives users confidence in your facility during the cold and flu season and reduces the transmission of illness. Take a look at our winter defences which communicate that you genuinely care for your users’ health, safety and wellbeing…
RCP’s hand hygiene essentials for a strong front line of defence against germs
Hygienically sealed soap and sanitiser refills
Hygienically sealed refills are the first must-have to prioritise this winter, for both optimum safety and cost-in-use. As established, unhygienic bulk fill sanitisers with larger dose sizes and less concentrated soap prove an unsafe and costly option in the medium and long term. Through smaller, more concentrated dose sizes, our hygienically sealed refills are more cost-effective, as well as offering your facility user’s the highest standard of hand hygiene during cold and flu season.
Touch-free is a must-have, especially when people are on high alert during cold and flu season: 92% of people prefer touch-free dispensers, with a survey showing that two out of three people will use a variety of methods (including flushing with their foot!) to avoid touching anything in a washroom.7
Our battery-free LumeCel Dispenser provides the touch-free hand hygiene experience people want, in the washroom and in the rest of your facility where visibility is key. Convenience and sustainability also makes the LumeCel a winter hand hygiene must-have. This dispenser captures energy from any indoor or natural light source and is powered by a rechargeable energy system, removing the need to purchase, replace and dispose of alkaline batteries.
If your facility has tight spaces, you may resort to pump top bottles that don’t align with the rest of your user experience, whether that’s because they don’t pump effectively or are visibly dirty. Consider the new RCP 500ml AutoFoam dispenser which provides optimum safety and touch-free user experience, in a smaller footprint to match your facility’s needs. Based on the aesthetics and performance of our larger market-leading touch-free dispensers, with the 500ml AutoFoam dispenser, small spaces don’t mean compromising on hand hygiene.
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
1 Dr. C. Gerba, University of Arizona Study.
2 GQ Magazine, average salary taken from Olive Pometsey.
3 Deloitte, Safety and cleanliness- Make it or break it.
4 Deloitte, Safety and cleanliness- Make it or break it.
5 Rubbermaid Commercial Products Changing Workplaces Report.
6 Journal of Environmental Health 2011.
7 Rubbermaid Commercial Products Facebook Hand Hygiene Survey 2020; Impulse Research Corporation Survey.
