A new professional guide, The Inclusive Hygiene Playbook, was recently introduced by Tork, an Essity brand and the global leader in professional hygiene. This first-of-its-kind resource provides research-backed tips for facility managers to improve hygiene in one of the busiest spaces in a facility: the restroom. This builds on the ongoing efforts by the Tork Coalition for Inclusive Hygiene, launched earlier this year, to explore and help solve the hygiene barriers that people face in public restrooms. These barriers arise from a mismatch between a person’s abilities, needs or circumstances and their environment.
According to a recent survey from Tork, only one in five public restrooms meets users’ hygiene and cleanliness expectations, and in office buildings – where people spend a significant portion of their day – restrooms account for over 45 per cent of building complaints.*
And when public restrooms fail to meet users’ needs, it directly impacts the overall experience, business reputation, and, depending on the facility type, revenue.
This is because a significant number of people face barriers to hygiene in public restrooms that often go unknown to the people who own, manage or operate public restrooms. Some of these barriers are visible; others are not. For example, a barrier can include anything from soaps that use harsh chemicals that aggravate a person’s skin condition, loud air dryers that overwhelm neurodiverse individuals, or faucets and paper towel dispensers that are difficult to operate for those with limited hand mobility.
Research shows that 54 per cent of venue visitors contend with some form of physical or cognitive challenge* and 44 per cent of people feel anxious about using public restrooms and often plan their days around access to proper hygiene.**
“The Inclusive Hygiene Playbook was designed to help facility managers reevaluate the role of restrooms — not just as operational necessities, but as strategic assets that can elevate the user experience and drive business results,” said Amy Bellcourt, VP of Communications at Essity. “Backed by over 50 years of professional hygiene expertise and informed by ethnographic research conducted in 20 cities across North America, this playbook delivers actionable insights to transform public restroom spaces into business advantages.”
The playbook outlines the following three key design principles and recommendations for addressing hygiene barriers and driving inclusive hygiene in public restrooms:
1) A clean and safe environment is paramount to encouraging return visits and boosting business performance
2) Put the “rest” back in restroom: design a comfortable and private space to increase user satisfaction and promote a better work environment.
3) The restroom should feel cared for: signal care with communications that showcase your business values.
To learn more and take actionable steps toward improving the restroom experience, download the Inclusive Hygiene Playbook here: https://www.torkglobal.com/us/en/about/inclusive-hygiene#playbook
Sources:
*Statista: North America; Average across 2017 to 2021; 185 respondents; Building service contractors / commercial cleaning providers.
**Tork Insight Survey 2024, conducted in US, UK, Germany, France and Mexico among 6000 end-users and 900 businesses
