A freestanding sanitizer dispenser at the entrance is useful. It is not the handwashing plan. People use it when they will not walk to a sink. They still need soap and running water where hands are actually soiled.
Where a stand earns its space
- At the main entrance and at a clinic or food-service door, where people arrive and leave without passing a washroom.
- Outside a washroom, for the person who touched the door pull on the way out.
- On a route you already walk, so the bottle gets changed with the other dispensers instead of whenever someone emails.
Where it does not replace the washroom
Sanitizer does not remove grease, food, or dirt. A shop, a kitchen, and a daycare still need soap at the sink. Do not pull the soap budget because a stand went in at the lobby. Keep the washroom stocked the way you would for cold and flu season, and keep the soap dispenser filled. The stand is extra.
Keep it from becoming clutter
An empty stand is worse than no stand. It tells people the building gave up. Refill it on the same walk as the washrooms, and do not leave a second bottle on the floor beside it. If the unit can be opened by anyone, it will be. Use a closed dispenser in a public entrance, the same reason public dispensers should lock.
Bottom line
Put sanitizer where people will not reach a sink, keep soap where they will, and refill the stand before it runs dry. It supports the washroom. It does not stand in for one.
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