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Pennington calls for better facilities in school toilets
Professor Hugh Pennington has called for local authorities to set up a programme of audits to ensure that all schools have adequate toilet and hand washing facilities. The recommendation comes in his report into the September 2005 outbreak of E. coli in Wales and has been welcomed by hygiene consultant Mike Burton.
Professor Pennington’s report acknowledges the vital role that good hand hygiene and appropriate school toilet facilities play in preventing the spread of infection. Yet many schools have inadequate toilets that lack toilet paper, soap and hand drying facilities. Standards of cleaning by contactors were also variable.
Mike Burton said: “We have developed a set of national cleaning standards designed to help schools ensure that toilets are cleaned appropriately. These standards have been produced on behalf of Bog Standard, the campaign that promotes better toilets for schools, and will be available by the summer. They clearly set out acceptable standards of cleaning, the frequency of cleaning and a detailed description of how toilet facilities should be cleaned in schools.
We have also produced a short free film, entitled Hidden Dangers, that is being used as a training resource in schools and demonstrates how cross infection can be spread with the wrong cleaning materials and techniques. I have been working with schools for many years and it is clear that good design, maintenance and hygiene education are key to helping schools reduce cross infection rates and provide the sort of facilities that are necessary to maintain children’s health.”
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www.bog-standard.org
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