As the global pandemic unfolded, businesses and institutions in Canada needed to find ways to make hand sanitizer accessible to all staff members and customers. Frequent sanitation was, and still is, one of the best ways to slow down the spread of various infections. As a result, two different hand sanitation solutions started seeing widespread use: hand sanitation stands and hand sanitation stations.
A hand sanitizer dispenser can be used for both of these designs, but the WHO vastly prefers the use of stations over stands. The hand sanitizer stand dispenser, however, is easier to place in a workplace and can be easily located by workers or customers. While you cannot always mount clear, bold signage onto a stand to make it more visible, you can use smaller stickers and labels. The station design, on the other hand, gives establishments plenty of surfaces to mount highly visible signs that request staff and customers to sanitize their hands.
The station design also allows for multiple dispensers to be mounted on. This eliminates the need for customers and staff to have to line up to get to the dispenser, making it less likely that customers and staff that are facing a time crunch will just skip sanitizing their hands altogether.
Although the station design is preferred by the WHO, there are cases where it makes more sense for an establishment to use a stand dispenser over a station. For one, the station design takes up more physical space than a stand. For small Canadian businesses, it might make more sense to make use of a hand sanitizer stand in Canada, over purchasing a station. There are also more surfaces on the station itself that will need to be cleaned and disinfected. For businesses running small teams, frequent disinfection of a station may not be an option. A stand is quicker to clean and disinfect.
The other issue is cost. Stations cost more, which means that a larger facility may not have the resources to purchase several stations and have them located throughout the facility. A hand sanitizer stand dispenser, on the other hand, costs less. An establishment can buy multiple stands, and have them spread out throughout several highly trafficked areas within the facility, increasing the chances that employees and customers will sanitize their hands.
The Hand Sanitizer Stand Has Its Pros and Cons
While the WHO recommends the use of hand sanitizer stations, the station design isn’t feasible for every business. While stations are more visible than stands, they take up much more room, and have more surfaces that need to be disinfected. This may make it hard to use in a small business. Stations are also more expensive. A stand, on the other hand, is cheaper to buy, meaning more can be purchased and spread out throughout a larger facility. Although neither solution is perfect, it’s still important to have some sort of solution in place. Make sure to get the solution that makes the most sense for your establishment.