IS YOUR ELEVATOR HYGIENIC ENOUGH?
It must be interesting and fun at times to go by lift from one floor to another. There is a multitude of thoughts inside the elevator that varies from one person to another. One spends a few seconds inside the four walls of the elevator where there are so many observations and thoughts that keep coming up in mind and also overlap each other.
While one takes interest to notice a few features of the elevators especially when they are beautiful, classy and stylish, what certainly gets neglected is the level of hygiene inside the elevator. In other words, one can say that hygiene is taken for granted here.
Hence, it is time to take a close look at what we come into contact inside the elevator:
- Pushing the button for germ attack - Yes, this small act can pass germs from one place to another since germs do not need an invitation to get transferred. It would be shocking to note that the number of bacteria that is present on the elevator button is 40 times higher than the ones present on the public toilet seat.
- Getting exposed to various bacterial germs - As one touches the different buttons in the elevator, there are numerous and different types of bacteria that one gets exposed to like E. coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. An elevator button is touched by dozens of people with all kinds of bacteria coming in every hour. Even if the efforts are taken to clean the buttons regularly, there will still be a high potential for new kinds of bacteria germs to turn up every day. Some of the risky places where the cross-contamination potential is high is that of the hotel, banks, offices, and airport where diseases can spread through touching
- All breathing the same air - Apart from the button touch, what can also be unhygienic is that people breathe together with the same air in the elevator space that they are in. This is riskier as a virus can spread in the air and can lead to diseases or other medical problems.
So, from the above, we can gauge that cleanliness is not there when it comes to elevators because of the germs and virus being exchanged frequently in a medium that constantly increases one’s mobility.
However, there are some solutions to the above hygienic problems that can be dealt with by adopting strategies that ensure that the elevator space is getting cleaned and sanitized timely.
Few of the alternate solutions are mentioned below:
1. Adapt to Microban Antibacterial Protection - This is specially designed where a plastic elevator button is put up proving to be antibacterial and antifungal and hence provides protection. This protection on the button is durable as well. While bacteria can double in 20 minutes but Microban disrupts their multiplicity causing them to die within 24 hours.
2. Adapt to an air filter technology - This should be used to ensure that the air inside the elevator is clean where the air filter technology or air purifier will remove the contaminants in a room to improve the air quality.
3. Install hand sanitizers - This is a good and effective step to at least allow one person to maintain hygiene on a personal basis. This has to be done manually unlike the other solutions mentioned before that will do its job automatically to keep the elevators clean.
4. Wash hands after exiting the elevator - This again is a manual step that has to be undertaken on a personal level. This especially stands true for the regular users of the elevator where they can ensure their cleanliness if they make their own small effort.
Thus, one should be careful about the cleanliness and hygiene inside the elevator, however, there is no need to worry as most of the bacteria do not cause disease. Bacteria around us can be both good and bad and one needs bacteria to live as well. As one is using the elevator, one just needs to be a bit careful about it. There is no need to become paranoid about the hygiene system of the elevators unless there is a major outbreak in a region.
By POLO Elevators - Elevator Suppliers & Lift Manufacturers in Delhi
