SAFETY TIPS IN PUBLIC RESTROOMS

A visit to a public restroom for me is quite nerve-wracking!! How about you?

Public restrooms in airports, malls, restaurants, hotels and stores serve a very useful purpose. When away from home, we all rely on the availability of public restrooms. Unfortunately, public restrooms aren't always completely safe or clean.

When you dare to venture into the confines of the restroom (or toilet as we often call it here in Naija) you may find yourself pushing open the door with your elbows, crouching precariously above the toilet seat rather than letting your skin touch it, and flushing with your shoe.

While there's plenty of bathroom paranoia to go around, anxiety might be a little overdone. Yes, there can be plenty of bugs lying in wait in public restrooms, but if your immune system is healthy, and if you adopt simple hygienic measures like hand washing, you should be able to deliver a knockout punch to most of what you encounter and perhaps put your "germ-phobia" to rest.

Before you panic, the toilet seat is not a common vehicle for transmitting infections to humans. Many disease-causing organisms can survive for only a short time on the surface of the seat, and for an infection to occur, the germs would have to be transferred from the toilet seat to your urethral or genital tract, or through a cut or sore on the buttocks or thighs, which is possible but very unlikely (Source: American Society for Microbiology Resource).

SAFETY TIPS TO ALWAYS CONSIDER:

1.        Use antibacterial wipes to clean seats before using the toilets. Hover above the seats; do not actually sit on the toilet bowl.

2.       Don't pull your pants too far down. Pull them down about midway between your knees and feet.

3.       Close the lid of the toilet bowl with your hand covered with tissue/wipes before flushing. Flushing releases airborne particles and germs which could be reduced by closing the lid.

4.      Wash your hands after using the restroom. Rubbing soapy water all over the hands and fingers for 20 to 30 seconds, including under the fingernails. As you create friction by rubbing the hands together, you'll loosen the disease-causing particles on the hands. After rinsing thoroughly, repeat the process.

5.       Avoid touching taps, handles and knobs after you have washed your hands. If your public restroom has doors, use clean paper towel (tissue)/wipes to cover the door handle as you open it. Discard the paper towel after you have left the restroom.

6.      Children younger than 6 years old should NOT be left unattended.

7.       Use hot-air hand dryers with care. In order to feel the hot air, you might have to get very close to the vents. Don't let your hands touch the surface of the vents, however, or you'll risk contamination.

8.      Complain to management of the facility you are in about poor restroom conditions. The more they know, the better they should get at putting it in shape.

9.      Lastly, be careful and vigilant when using public restrooms as some people fall prey to petty thieves and other unsavoury characters while in restrooms.

Give us a call on 08069648132, send a WhatsApp message to 08172860826 or send an email to safehavenrestrooms@gmail.com to discuss how we can help you keep a respectable restroom. You’ll be glad you did.