Inclusive hygiene in public washrooms

Inclusive hygiene in public washrooms

Barriers to inclusive hygiene in public washrooms challenge people every day, some barriers are visible, others are not. Discover how removing these barriers can make your washrooms more hygienic and inclusive.

Hygiene barriers

Throughout our lives, many of us do at some point face barriers when washing our hands in public washrooms. These invisible hand hygiene barriers can affect people in multiple ways, but there are multiple solutions. The problem is, it’s only the people who face the barriers that are aware of them.

a young man holds a paper towel with handwritten text explaining why fragrant soap can make it hard to use public washrooms
Roundtable event

Exploring inclusive hygiene in public washrooms

We convene experts from civil society, government, academia and industry to discuss inclusive hygiene in public washrooms.

Paper towel plea – watch the film

Tork launched its global effort to advance inclusive hygiene in US March 2024 using printed paper towels as a medium through its “paper towel plea”. We placed the stories of people facing hand-hygiene barriers into the hands of those with the power to make a change, in the very place where these barriers occur. The washroom.  

Take action to make hand hygiene more inclusive

Click on the hot spots to discover some simple, practical steps you can take to make hand hygiene in your washroom more inclusive. 
The Global Handwashing Partnership logo 
"We applaud Tork for leading the charge on this important initiative and continuing to push for attention and improvement of the accessibility of hand washing in public and workplace washrooms."
Ron Clemmer, Secretariat Director, Global Handwashing Partnership

References

* US Survey among a nationally representative group, barriers faced personally or in assisting others, 2024  
** British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 190, Issue 1, January 2024