Why France Lost Billions of Euros. The saying “time is money” was proven painfully accurate with the results of a study concerning hygiene and money, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research along with Rentokil Initial cleaning company.
The French economy, for example, lost 14.5 billion euros according to the study’s calculations.
How does poor hygiene translate to money loss? We can explain
Each worker took one sick day each year on average – due to illness caused by poor hygiene. Apparently, only 49% of the French reported washing their hands after going to the bathroom, which could explain the rising number of sick days taken by employees. This totaled up to 4.4 billion euros in losses a year. That’s not all, though.
According to the study, the time employees spent searching for clean toilets or cleaning up dirty ones before using them totaled up to a staggering 2.3 work days (per worker!) every year. Totaled up for France as a whole, this equaled 10.1 billion euros in losses.
Britain and Germany faired just slightly better when put to the test, with Britain losing 13.7 billion euros and Germany 12.6 billion euros – all because of bad hygiene.
What can you do to improve hygiene in your workplace?
Hand washing
Stressing the importance of handwashing to the employees is crucial. You can explain the science behind handwashing to improve understanding amongst workers, and you can also print out a pamphlet on the proper handwashing moves that should be carried out, hanging it next to the sinks. We wrote an entire article about how to address your team regarding hand hygiene, with all of the best tips, you can read it here. France Lost Billions of Euros of their poor hygiene.
Staying clear of danger zones
Wash your hands after touching things in communal areas such as shared door knobs, elevator buttons, AC controllers, and so on. If you touch a contaminated surface and then touch another object, you can pass on the germs, so make sure to disinfect your own office supplies periodically.
Employing different tactics
There are a number of different tactics employers can use to minimize contamination inside the workplace. Ensuring hand washing upon entering work facilities can help minimize the number of pathogens entering the work-space. This can work as long as one of the employees is not a carrier themselves, in which case, washing hands once is not enough. Jobs can distribute latex gloves as well, though they are not as hygienic as hand washing and are considered extremely bad for the environment. Encouraging sick leaves is another way to make sure harmful diseases don’t spread in the workplace.
Ensuring Hygiene Compliance
Cleaning charts
One of the oldest ways to ensure office bathrooms are clean is to use a cleaning chart, where whoever cleaned the bathroom signs their name, the date, and the time on a piece of paper attached to a prominent place, like the doorway. This can help workers and employers track whether the bathrooms are clean, and if not, have someone accountable. France Lost Billions of Euros of their poor hygiene.
Use modern technology
Soapy offers an advanced solution to hand hygiene: The CleanMachine. The smart handwashing station dispenses the exact amount of soap and warm water needed for washing hands. This saves up to 65% of reagents and up to 90% of water, translating to hundreds of dollars a year. Because the smart machine heats water specifically per wash, it is efficient in electricity usage as well. The CleanMachine also has a facial recognition feature, giving each employee a score of how well they washed their hands. The smart machine stores this individual and group user hand-hygiene data on the secure Soapy Wisdom platform. Managers have access to this information to help them ensure a high standard of hand hygiene in their facilities. If you want to learn more about the CleanMachine, you can contact us here.
