A Disturbing Observation
Adam here. So, I have noticed something that has been bothering me for a while. Partly because it is counter intuitive, but mostly because it is pretty gross. I work two jobs, one in an office and the other in a warehouse environment, and have used the bathroom facilities at both of them. Being an observant person, I have noticed something puzzling. The percentage of men who work in my office that wash their hands after using the bathroom is appallingly low. I estimate fewer than 40% actually wash their hands before returning to work. Even more annoying is the habit that some of the dirty 60% have of turning on the water, rinsing their hands for half a second, and then drying them with a paper towel, no soap involved. Not only is this not actually getting the hands clean in any way, it is also wasting water and paper towels. No wonder people here take so many sick days.
Here is the counter intuitive part: I estimate that somewhere around 75% of the men at my warehouse job wash their hands after using the bathroom. You know, actual soap and water, scrubbing, etc. This is baffling to me, since the level of sophistication of many of my warehouse coworkers is typically lower than that of my office coworkers. If nothing else, the income and education levels of my office coworkers far exceed those of the guys at the warehouse. You would think this would translate into better manners and general cleanliness, but you would be wrong. It still makes me shake my head regularly.
Does anyone else have a theory as to why this occurs? It makes no sense to me.
Here is the counter intuitive part: I estimate that somewhere around 75% of the men at my warehouse job wash their hands after using the bathroom. You know, actual soap and water, scrubbing, etc. This is baffling to me, since the level of sophistication of many of my warehouse coworkers is typically lower than that of my office coworkers. If nothing else, the income and education levels of my office coworkers far exceed those of the guys at the warehouse. You would think this would translate into better manners and general cleanliness, but you would be wrong. It still makes me shake my head regularly.
Does anyone else have a theory as to why this occurs? It makes no sense to me.
Adam,
I think that the people at the office feel that their hands are not really dirty with the type of work that they do so they don't wash their hands. Where at the warehouse the employees feel like they are working with dirty boxes and can feel the dust/dirt on their hands and are more inclined to wash them. Maybe they wear gloves and sweat builds up and they want to get it off. I agree that is gross. maybe you should suggest hand sanitizer dispensers to be installed so those who just rinse their hands can use that and they wouldn't even need a paper towel. I would avoid touching their desks, phone, and especially their computer keyboard. Most germs/sicknesses are spread through touching fomites. You should have a glow germ experiment (http://www.glogerm.com/).
Reply to this
I had considered that, but regardless of what your work entails, everyone's hands get dirty in the bathroom. There is no way around that. Where your hands have been (or what they have been doing) outside of the bathroom should have no impact on their need for washing after doing your business in there.
Unfortunately, I doubt that hand sanitizer would do any good. I mean, there is already soap and water for the using. It's not like you have to put in a quarter to get some soap. I think the people in my office would simply ignore a hand sanitizer dispenser, even if the building management did install one.
Oh, and don't worry. I don't touch anything in anyone else's cubicles. Not out of a fear of germs, but simply out of a respect for other people's personal space.
Reply to this