Part one of this two-part article discusses the release of a new size of hand sanitizer dispenser.
Building service contractors and their customers are well aware that hand hygiene habits play an important role in reducing the spread of germs, and, as such, hand sanitizer products have become ubiquitous. Enter any grocery store, school or office building and there’s likely to be hand sanitizer bottles and dispensers in strategic locations throughout these facilities.
With hand sanitizer sales on the rise, a new breed of hand sanitizer dispenser is infiltrating the marketplace. These super-small systems measure approximately 8 inches tall by 3 inches wide by 3 inches deep and hold roughly 15 ounces of product. Their compact size allows them to fit in tight spaces where other dispensers may be too large or available floor space is limited, making them ideal for areas such as school buses, bank teller stations or grocery store lines.
Small dispensers bridge the gap between a standard 8-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer and a wall-mounted dispenser that holds anywhere from 700 milliliters to 1.2 liters. The smaller size and multiple mounting options of these new dispensers make them a versatile choice for BSCs to set up in facilities they service, says Thom Wojtkun, market development manager for GOJO Industries, Inc., Akron, Ohio.
“The design of the system allows it to be installed in more places — be it an office building, a school or a fitness center,” he says. “The ability to go into places where bottles and dispensers really aren’t appropriate makes hand hygiene available to so many more people. And getting more people to engage in hand hygiene will go to great lengths in keeping people healthier.”
Ronald Lewis, associate brand manager for The Dial Corporation, A Henkel Company, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is seeing a growing interest in these miniature dispensers among BSCs.
“They want to put hand sanitizer in more places — plus you don’t want the bottles to walk away,” he says. “So if you put them on the wall it deters the opportunity to take the bottle, and it’s always there if you need it.”
Lewis sees these small hand sanitizer dispensers being used more and more in grocery stores, as well as in office buildings outside elevators and restrooms, and in hallways and stairwells.
“Anywhere you think someone has just come into contact with a surface where they may have picked up germs is a good place to put it,” he says. “So, for example, a good location would be at the end of a staircase where you put your hand on the rail. It helps to improve hand hygiene, because it makes hand sanitizer available where it’s needed.”
New Dispenser Design Fits More Places Than Traditional Wall-mounted Hand Sanitizer