Hand Driers

The circuit that supplies it will need RCD protection.

Is that a BS 7671 requirement? (for a location that presumably isn't a bathroom (office loo), wiring that may be surface, hard-wired without the use of a plug & socket, and likely Zs within requirements for ADS by OPD). Not saying it's not a good idea, but maybe more of a recommendation than a requirement?

   - Andy. 

 

i like the ones with a swivel so you can dry your face, Madonna in “Susan” film :)

 

I was desperately “Into the groove,” a great film with great music. I fancied Madonna's side kick, the other girl.

Warm air hand driers are great at blowing germs about in bogs. Flu or covid anyone?

Z.

dcbwhaley: 
 

Thanks for that.  Any experience with specific makes?  Are Dyson worth the price tag?

They are all dirty, filthy things leaving dirty water down the wall and puddles on the floor.

I worked for an international company that took out all the electric hand dryers when they moved into a new building and put in towels. This was pre covid and there reasoning was roller towels reduced the risk of spreading germs/viruses. 

AdrianWint: 
What is the learned Forums view on this objection to hand driers? Possible fact or COVID myth?

I haven't the time to delve into the huge volume of literature, but I was reassured a short while before I last went up to London to hear that Tube and railway stations had been swabbed and found to be negative. So it appears that transmission is very much more by coughs and sneezes than by contact.

By contrast, you really do not want to know about swabbing supermarket trolley handles. ?

kfh: 
I worked for an international company that took out all the electric hand dryers when they moved into a new building and put in towels. This was pre covid and there reasoning was roller towels reduced the risk of spreading germs/viruses. 

If you mean a towel which has been stitched into a loop and placed over a roller, that is the worst of all worlds.

Paper towels which are dispensed either in sheets or off a roll are fine by me. The problem is that so many people do not put them in the bin (which must be electrically or pedal operated in order to be properly hygienic).

You need to hang onto the paper towel to open the door without touching the handle.

AdrianWint: 
 

As an aside…. all the hand-driers at work have been disabled for “COVID related reasons” (fear of the water droplets being turned into an aerosol mist & passing on a infection).

What is the learned Forums view on this objection to hand driers? Possible fact or COVID myth?

The Centre for Disease Control states that the important things are hand-washing followed by thorough drying of hands. 

 They say that either paper towels or hot air dryers are acceptable, but advise that dryers should not need touching to turn them on. They also suggest that hot air dryers are more likely to result in dry hands than paper towels. 

Regards,

Alan. 

Oddly at our place they have put blower type hand dryers in as a covid precaution, as well as wedging some fire doors open, as the covid risk from door handles is apparently higher than the fire risk. 

For the blowers  I suspect the hands are supposed to be washed and therefore clean, before you try and dry them..

I also think some health and safety stuff is made up on the spot by folk trying to make a job out of it.

Mike.

I never use other people's towels when working in homes.  I just use the bog paper to partially dry my hands then flush it.

In public bogs I consider the whole area contaminated and just rinse my hands and wipe them down my front to semi-dry them. They soon dry off in the air outside. Blokes drying their hands is very “girly” and not really necessary at all.

Z.