Over the past year, a major message has been sent out in the portable sanitation industry: cleanliness counts. And industry manufacturers listened. Just about every manufacturer exhibiting at the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International in Louisville, Ky., in February was offering a new hand-wash or hand sanitizer option.
It doesn’t appear that the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, posed the major public health threat that was forecast for the past winter, and thank goodness for that. But a looming pandemic may have been the motivation necessary to get the American public serious about an effort to stop the spread of germs through hand contact in public restroom situations.
I say it’s about time. For years, I’ve wondered why hand-wash stations or hand sanitizers weren’t a standard feature for portable restrooms placed at construction sites and special events throughout the land. It always mystified me why your clients would pinch pennies when it comes to keeping their workers or the general public safe from the spread of disease.
A couple of longtime restroom contractors I talked to at the Expo explained their No. 1 training tip to new employees on restroom service routes: “If you wouldn’t send your mother or grandmother in there, it’s not clean enough for our customers.’’ This is simple and true; how many of you would send your mother into a portable restroom if there was no way for her to wash her hands afterward?
And have you wondered, while refreshing a bank of restrooms at a fair or festival, how restroom users could go right from your unit to a food tent and order lunch without washing their hands first? I’m sure the failure to place hand-wash products at some special events hasn’t been for lack of trying on your part. It comes down to your customers wanting to make cleanliness a priority and showing a willingness to spend a few extra dollars to do their part for the greater public good.
If the new products shown at the Expo are any indication, special event organizers and construction foremen are starting to take the hint. Major restroom manufacturers at the Expo introduced new sanitizing stands to the wheeled sinks that have been on the market several years. You can see a sampling of new products from the Expo in the feature “The Expo Edge” in this issue.
TIDE IS TURNING
PolyJohn Enterprises Corp. added a compact, two-sided sanitizer stand to join its four-sided SaniStand model. Satellite Industries introduced the HandiStand four-sided model. PolyPortables introduced the Sanitizer Station. T.S.F. Company Inc. brought the Handy Hand Sanitizer. The new products typically allow for installing several types of disinfectant dispensers, from wipes, to foams to gels.
In addition to the sanitizing stands, manufacturers also showed new hand-wash sink products, including Armal’s dual-sided AquaStand and PolyPortables’ electric heated TagAlong station.
Manufacturer’s reps said providing a hand-cleaning option with a restroom is coming closer to being a prerequisite for customers, either simply through demands from the end-user or by regulation in some states. PROs I visited with at the Expo agreed, though they said some customers are holding out due to the added cost.
I think the tide is turning quickly, and as the economy bounces back, more and more customers and state health officials will demand hand-wash facilities with every restroom order. As the financial crisis ebbs — and it will — construction companies and special events organizers will start to build good hygiene into their cost of doing business. As consumers, we’ll all end up supporting the improved public health efforts, but we’ll also all benefit from them.
As an industry, it’s important we do our part as well. That means not being shy about compelling customers to add sinks and sanitizer stands to their orders this year. Even if a construction contractor or a special event has turned you down flat in the past over adding sinks, you shouldn’t stop trying. More than ever, you have the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and local public health officials backing your argument. Make this a big part of your sales pitches this year and let’s see if attitudes are changing.
REVIVING ECONOMY?
With all the talk over the past year about a deepening economic recession, I found it interesting that Expo exhibitors placed a greater emphasis on units designed for high-rise commercial construction projects. Whether they expect infrastructure spending or urban renewal to take hold, a few restroom makers are concentrating on that construction segment.
Satellite Industries introduced the new HIGHRISE unit aimed at easy, wheeled transport via freight elevators or lifting by crane. Poly-Portables showed the new Poly Mini shortened unit with wheels and a lift kit to serve the same purpose. And PolyJohn displayed its own — but not new — PolyLift model.
Are these units evidence of a commercial construction renaissance in big cities? What are you hearing from customers? I’d be interested in learning about projects you’re working on that require lift rigs and the service challenges that go along with such jobs. If you have an interesting job to talk about, drop me a line at editor@promonthly.com.
FIVE PEAKS RETURNS
Restroom manufacturer Five Peaks Technology, a part of Michigan-based Ameriform Products, returned to the Expo after its products were sold through Satellite Industries at the 2009 Expo. For a brief period, Five Peaks and Satellite had a distribution agreement for Satellite to sell its restrooms, but that agreement was terminated last May.
Ameriform President Dan Harris said demand from past Five Peaks customers convinced the company to redouble its efforts in the portable sanitation industry. “We’re going to grow this company and bring it back up to what it used to be,’’ Harris said. “We think the market is going to come back and we want to be here when it does.’’
GREAT TO SEE YOU!
It was wonderful to reconnect with many PROs at the Expo. Some of you reported that 2009 was your most challenging year, while a few of you said 2009 was your best year ever. In either case, you’re expecting or at least hoping to see an economic bounce-back this year. Hope springs eternal, and that’s one thing I like so much about the resourceful people in this industry. To you, the glass is always at least half full.
If you didn’t make it to the Expo this year, I hope to see you next year. Mark your calendars for the 2011 event, which will be March 2-5 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. To get a jump-start on planning for next year, visit www.pumpershow.com.
