Door handles in public toilets the wrong way round
We all have had to use a public toilet (restroom) at some time or other and have probably come across an example like the one in the film Trainspotting aptly named 'The worst toilet in Scotland'.
However in this article I hope to show you that even in the cleanest public loo there is a serious design flaw that even if it isn't a health risk, is guaranteed to turn your stomach if you think about it too much.
Doors usually open into a room and this feels right and has always been the way. For example you walk into your house through the front door and you generally open a door and walk into your bedroom. The door on your toilet quite often swings inwards as well, although this is not always the case as my one has to be opened and that brings me right to the point that I am trying to make. How many times have you used a toilet in somewhere such as a pub or restaurant and observed someone else walk straight out after doing their business without stopping to wash their hands?
I can't speak for female toilets, but this happens quite regularly in male toilets and especially in the toilets that are in pubs and this level of poor hygiene is simply disgusting, there's no other way to describe it. Just imagine the germs festering on the handles of those doors, it doesn't bear thinking about!
But what bothers me most though is that the doors to these toilets are quite often of the type that you have to push to go in and then pull with a handle to leave. This doesn't make much sense to me as it means you have to use the same handle that someone who may not have washed their hands has just used.
Toilet door handles should be on the opposite side
Wouldn't it make much more sense to have toilet doors work in such a way that you could pull a handle to go in and then push the door to exit, thus avoiding contact with door handles?
I'm not sure how feasible this would be and I suspect there is a good reason why things are the way that they are but it's just something that really bothers me.
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Handle Hygiene UK - 17-Apr-12 15:06
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OCD _is_my_middle_name - 31-Dec-11 21:53
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As to the original gripe writer you are dead right,no building should have a water closet door that opens inwardly.But even if the cubicle door opened outwards I think you would still have to twist a handle or unlock the door before you could get out.
So my answer to the problem is simply to wash my hands(even though all of the people in-front of me have had to touch the tap handle) leave the Toilet (restroom) and use the little bottle of Sanitiser gel that I take everywhere I go (and I do mean everywhere).
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Maybe you should give them a ring, they need to get in there with some hand swabs - disgusting!!
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Sick to my stomach - 12-Apr-10 16:38
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Diamonds are forever* - 18-Feb-10 00:00
The solution is to get a paper towel to turn the tap off and another to open the door with. You can't be too careful. I know to my cost. Gastro enteritis is not good.
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But you're wrong on one point: there is NO good reason why things are the way they are (immediate equipment cost is the reason, which is a bad one).
P.S. to all: F.U. with your money/advertising considerations! Just let the guy say what he has to say!
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grumpyoldwoman - 6-Dec-09 10:07
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grumpyoldwoman - 5-Dec-09 15:40
But lets face it, whats the point with all that technology if everyone has to use the same old dirty handle to exit the room.
So is there a solution to this problem other than using your foot or sleeve... yes and its called Wrist-Pull.
Wrist-Pull is a highly innovative yet simple door handle that enables you to exit a room by using your wrist to pull and open the door, therefore eradicating the need for you to you and contaminate your hand or fingers.
The marketing consultancy behind this ingenious product is newbrandguru and we are just in the process of delivering a soft launch campaign with hotels and restaurants across the UK.
For additional information, images or a press release, please contact Sam Lutman-Pauc at newbrandguru (0844 445 7790) studio@newbrandguru.com
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Ive worked in trades associated to the construction trade for years, and very few planning officers would allow public wc doors (or indeed office/classroom doors) to open outwards for these very reasons.
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