In the world of institutional and commercial hygiene, particularly within high-traffic environments, ensuring consistent and measurable hand washing compliance presents a complex challenge. While the act of hand washing is simple, the practicalities in a high-turnover workforce or a cost-sensitive institution introduce key considerations that impact genuine cleanliness and long-term sustainability. Shedding light on these factors is Pruthvi Sanghavi, Director, HPC Enterprises Pvt Ltd, in conversation with Clean India Journal.
For institutional businesses, the decision-making process around hand hygiene is governed by six crucial factors:
- cost of the hand wash liquid
- cost of the dispenser
- wear and tear of the dispensing system
- water consumption
- area requirement for the hand washing facility
- time requirement for the washing process
Addressing these factors requires a strategic approach to both product formulation and dispensing technology to ensure compliance and cost-effectiveness.
Dispensing systems are broadly categorised as automatic and manual. The choice between the two is dictated by the environment and user profile:
1. Automatic Dispensers: Best suited for high-traffic areas with an educated staff or user base. Users are generally more likely to follow the established SOP and will not tamper with the unit. However once broken, automatic dispensers typically require complete replacement as they are difficult to repair.
2. Manual Dispensers: Recommended for high-traffic areas where the user base may be less educated or less aware of the system’s mechanics. Manual units are easier to repair than automatic ones making them more resilient and cost-effective in environments prone to accidental damage or rough handling.
Beyond the activation mechanism, physical design plays a vital role. Dispensers can be under-counter or wall-mounted. Wall-mounted dispensers with a removable bottle and pump are highly recommended for two key reasons:
1. Reduced Contamination Risk: Under-counter systems with fixed storage tanks are difficult to clean. Wall-mounted bottles can be easily replaced after a set number of washes preventing ongoing contamination within the tank.
2. Space Efficiency: Wall mounting eliminates the need for additional counter space.
A high-quality wall-mounted dispenser is a cost-effective component of the hand washing system with well-engineered pumps capable of thousands of wash cycles. When the right system is implemented, the cost per wash can be minimal making it a sustainable investment.
“ Modern consumers increasingly recognise that genuine quality and efficacy come at a cost and are less likely to compare a standards-compliant product with untested low-cost alternatives. “
— Pruthvi Sanghavi
In food preparation environments such as large hotel kitchens or smaller food outlets hand hygiene requirements are stringent. The focus is on achieving the purest form of cleanliness without leaving any residue. Key considerations for kitchen-grade hand wash products include:
1. Safety Under Non-Food Contact: The product should carry certification or a declaration confirming it is safe as a non-food contact material meaning it can be used immediately before handling food.
2. Absence of Additives: The formulation should be fragrance-free and free from antibacterial layers that may transfer to food.
3. Cleaning vs Masking: The product must truly clean the hands removing strong odours, oil and grease rather than masking smells a trait seen in some retail products.
Frequent hand washing in high-frequency environments such as kitchens or hospitals can lead to contact dermatitis due to skin dryness. This dryness is often caused by the low pH and the necessary surfactant content the active cleaning ingredient. To counteract this, specialised hand wash formulations include high levels of humectants and ingredients like D-panthenol which act as conditioners.
• Conditioning Agents: Added to compensate for dryness caused by surfactants.
• pH Balance: Maintaining a skin-friendly pH between 5.5 and 6.5 is essential but challenging. Surfactants tend to be alkaline so buffering agents must be added to bring the pH into the correct range. This is an expensive but indispensable step. Discomfort from dermatitis can naturally lead to resistance to hand washing the ultimate barrier to compliance.
A reliable hygiene system depends on the unwavering quality of the hand wash formulation. A committed manufacturer maintains strict vigilance over several parameters:
• Viscosity: Slight variation can be tolerated by the dispenser but low viscosity causes the product to fall off the hands compromising dosage and effectiveness.
• pH Level: Maintaining pH between 5.5 and 6.5 is non-negotiable for skin health.
• Active Detergency Level: The percentage of surfactant actively cleaning the hands must be appropriately balanced. Too low is ineffective; too high increases the risk of skin damage.
• Foaming / Lathering: Lather plays a functional role in the cleaning process and must be maintained even in areas with very hard water. Certain hand washes such as those used in engineering departments may eliminate lather entirely to focus on removing oil and grease with minimal water use.
The intersection of bulk volume and sustainability is addressed through:
1. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): Manufacturers must track and account for plastic used internally and the plastic they recycle.
2. Zero Discharge: A commitment to ensuring no waste water, plastic or paper leaves the factory without processing or recycling.
Packaging is also designed with circularity in mind:
• Recyclable Plastic Only: Avoiding single-use materials commonly found in FMCG products.
• Single-Component Packaging: Bottle, label and pump made from the same material eliminating segregation before recycling and improving the likelihood of successful reuse.
Pricing and Competition
In the institutional hand wash market, price comparisons based solely on volume are misleading. Cheaper products may indicate poor raw materials or even harmful shortcuts like using caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) masquerading as soap.
A quality product must be priced to reflect the use of international-grade surfactants, conditioning agents and the investment required to achieve the correct pH and viscosity. While the unit cost may be higher a superior product offers better cleaning potentially reduces water consumption and ensures the intended reduction in contamination thus justifying the difference.
Modern consumers increasingly recognise that genuine quality and efficacy come at a cost and are less likely to compare a standards-compliant product with untested low-cost alternatives.
The ability to offer significant customisation in both dispensing systems and product formulations while maintaining guaranteed quality and reproducibility is a key differentiator. This flexibility gives an advantage over both very large competitors with fixed product lines and smaller vendors with inconsistent quality and enables tailored solutions for hospitals, kitchens and industrial settings.