Considering moving from Hand Dryers to Paper Towels
Our plant has recently considered removing all hand air dyers after results from an external audit. We have done a risk assessment and cost analysis of removing all hand air dryers and replacing them with paper towel dispensers or placing the hand dryers with new filters that would be more sanitary.
Has anyone been through a similar situation and can give their advice? What was your outcome?
Is there anything that the SQF Code speaks to about hand dryers vs. paper towel? Is having a risk assessment required to back up your reasoning for having one method or another?
Dear B. Bertram,
From what I see and experience in different companies, I'm in favor of paper towels. The links given by Scampi are very useful to understate that.
Kind regards,
Gerard Heerkens
The only issue worth noting is that usually paper towels are not recyclable and therefore have to be sent to landfill. If you have environmental targets to meet or customers who are expecting you to improve your environmental KPIs year on year this might prevent a challenge.
Dear bbertram
I agree to prefer paper towels in the designated hygiene area. I all other areas we are using hand dryer (sucking not blowing). Over time we have checked several times whether that "sucking" equipment can be introduced in hygiene area. Until now we have not given a release (reason: micro) even there is some pressure for change.
Rgds
moskito
The only issue worth noting is that usually paper towels are not recyclable and therefore have to be sent to landfill. If you have environmental targets to meet or customers who are expecting you to improve your environmental KPIs year on year this might prevent a challenge.
Hopefully this is starting to change
Around my locale, more and more places are putting blue bins in washrooms for the express purpose of recycling the paper towels
Scampi - this is very useful information.
I was always told that the towels widely used in food factories cannot be recycled as they are already made from recycled paper & the fibres are very short in length.
However I believe there are now moves to compost them - which would be a good idea as large food factories, especially high care establishments, produce a lot of waste due to their high usage & this would certainly be a bonus for the environment!!
If you want to keep dryers in non production areas, I would do that. For production areas, paper towels.
It all depends, of course on the products you produce and the risk inherent.
While I might not be as sensitive to the "environment" as some others, I'm more sensitive to not killing people or making them sick by the products we produce :)
Marshall