When working in a hygienic environment, it is imperative that a clear and efficient changing room flow is in place for staff to follow. This maintains hygiene standards and ensures the integrity of the products. It does this by preventing contamination as staff move from the “dirty” to “clean” areas and back again. We detail the perfect changing room flow below and help you optimise the process for maximum efficiency day to day.
The perfect changing room flow for entering ‘clean’ areas:
- Storage of personal clothing/belongings
- Wash hands
- Dry hands
- Dispose of paper towel in waste bag holder
- Grab your boots from the rack
- Put on PPE
- Sole sanitisation to reduce contamination from entry
- Turnstile entry with final hand sanitisation
Creating a clear path
Barriers and signage can be used to create a controlled flow of foot traffic through the changing room process. This ensures that staff follow the correct protocols and do not miss steps as they rush through. Turnstiles can also serve as a physical divider between areas with differing hygiene standards similar to the role seating benches play in being a physical marker between conflicting areas. This equipment can also aid the sanitisation process with several variations of turnstile offering a final hand washing station with built-in sanitiser dispensers.
Taking care of workwear
It’s important that stations are provided to effectively clean essential workwear such as boots and aprons. Even though they will be used to clean dirty items, these stations can still be hygienic. A good example of this is our apron washer which features two separate brushes at different heights so that the upper cleaning tool can be used to scrub aprons while the bottom can clean the top surface of boots & shoes. Manufactured from 304-grade stainless steel, every effort has been made to design boot and apron washers with reduced dirt traps for an easy to clean end product.
To maintain hygiene standards and prevent cross-contamination, we also offer boot racks and dryers to aid the cleaning and sterilisation process. Speeding up the changing room flow, our boot racks provide easy access to the whole boot while scrubbing with a maximum capacity of 36 pairs per rack while our boot dryers feature an adjustable thermostat and germicidal lamp for reduced chance of bacterial growth. By having equipment like this ready and easily accessible, you prevent dirt and debris from travelling between hygienic areas.
Access to protective equipment
Whether you require gloves, masks, hair nets or overshoes, the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) dispensers should be positioned strategically at key points in the changing room process. By providing easy access to essential PPE in a clearly organised and visible manner, workers are able to quickly and properly don their required gear without restricting traffic flow. This keeps bottlenecks at a minimum and reduces the time spent by staff searching for PPE. This not only improves operational efficiency but also helps maintain high standards of safety and contamination control.
Reducing contamination
If you are not relying on hygiene stations or turnstiles as part of the hand washing process, then the choice of wash trough can play an important role. These hand washing facilities should feature a contact-free operation, such as knee or sensor operation, and have a design that minimises splashback with minimal horizontal ledges where water can pool. These design features reduce the chance of potentially dangerous bacterial growth.
It’s also worth considering what the most appropriate hand drying method is for your particular hygienic environment. While hand dryers provide a quick and waste-free option, they can also cause the spread of airborne bacteria and cross-contamination in high hygiene areas. For this reason, paper towel dispensers are usually favoured in environments with stringent hygiene requirements. The friction caused as the towel rubs against skin collects additional bacteria that may have been missed during the washing process. These single-use towels can then be safely disposed of in a bin or waste bag, reducing the chance of contamination.
Maintaining the efficiency of your changing room flow
While designing a changing room flow is important, it is also vital to keep these areas up to date with the latest technology and time-saving equipment. Developments such as our hygiene stations and boot washers can speed up flows and provide a heightened, more consistent method of sanitisation across the workforce. Featuring an element of automation, it removes room for human error while keeping standards high.
To find out the best equipment for your unique hygiene requirements, contact our team of experts on 01603 788833 or email mail@teknomek.co.uk and they’ll be more than happy to help.
