ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

ECJ takes a look at the issue of menstrual equity, a new movement calling for free, tax free and/or freely available sanitary products in all women’s washrooms. This drive could present opportunities for washroom service companies, and for distributors.

In the UK, the umbrella term Duty of Care applies to a range of regulations governing how business owners and operators manage their facilities.

One of these regulations, the Controlled Waste, Duty of Care Regulations of 2002, requires business owners and operators to ensure that all ladies’ washrooms have receptacles for the disposal of feminine hygiene products. Presumably, owners and managers of commercial buildings open to the public are also bound by this regulation.

The Controlled Waste regulation goes on to state how this waste is to be stored, transported, and handled for ultimate disposal. It even requires that business and building owners and managers keep disposal records for two years.

However reviewing the regulations, it does not appear that they actually require business or building owners and managers to install feminine hygiene dispensing machines or provide feminine hygiene products in these women’s washrooms. And as we will discuss, if they are not required, building owners and managers have many reasons to not want them installed.

A North American publication reported that a businesswoman operating a 330-person marketing company was about to give a high-level sales presentation when she realised her period had started earlier than usual.  She excused herself to use the women’s washroom looking for a tampon dispenser, only to discover none was available. She returned to the conference room, worried that she might leave a stain on her dress or on her chair.

While this scenario might sound extreme, in fact what this woman experienced has happened to millions of women around the world. In an August 2013 Harris Interactive Poll of 1,072 women aged 18 and older, 86 per cent reported they have started their periods unexpectedly in public without the supplies they need.

The survey also reported the following interesting findings:

• In these “unexpected” situations, nearly 80 per cent of respondents said they try to make a pad out of toilet paper.
• Sixty-two per cent said they went to a store immediately to purchase tampons.
•Thirty-four per cent said they went home to get feminine supplies.
• Fifty-three per cent said they asked another woman for supplies.
• And most worrisome, only eight per cent of those surveyed reported that in their experience, tampon and sanitary napkin dispensers in public washrooms work all the time.

In addition, more than half of the women surveyed indicated they often forget to stock feminine hygiene products in their purses and even if they did, five per cent of the women said they would never carry their purse into a washroom “because others may assume she (was having) her period.”

The birth of menstrual equity

Because situations like this are so common and because so many women in North America and Europe are now in executive positions, it appears a cultural shift is happening in regards to feminine hygiene products in the workplace specifically. To put it bluntly, tampons and the dispensers for them are coming out of the closet. And with that door opening, so are opportunities for janitorial distributors and new responsibilities for contract cleaners.

But before we can discuss these issues, we need to understand a new movement called menstrual equity. Simply stated, menstrual equity calls for having free, tax-free and/or freely available sanitary products in all women’s washrooms. According to a February 29, 2016, article in the New York Times, a growing number of advocates, entrepreneurs, and female lawmakers are…talking about menstruation publicly (and are demanding that) businesses and government take menstruation into consideration when designing, building, and renovating properties, and in a variety of other situations as well.

As to taxes on these products, Canada abolished taxes on tampon and related feminine hygiene products in 2015. And in March of 2016, then prime minister David Cameron, in a speech before the House of Commons announced that: “Britain will be able to have a zero rate for sanitary products, meaning the end of the tampon tax.” This comes after several years of campaigning against the tax imposed on sanitary items, which classified them as ‘luxury items’, which of course they are not.

Menstrual equity and distributors

According to Amy Seretsky, washroom category manager at Impact-Products, which manufactures feminine hygiene dispensers and receptacles, janitorial distributors should see menstrual equity as an opportunity, “a new door opening that will help facilities address all their product needs. It’s all about creating a ‘positive guest experience,’ in this case in ladies washrooms”.

However Seretsky says many building owners not only no longer install these vending machines but often remove them from their ladies’ washrooms. Among their reasons are the following:

• Many dispensers are unattractive; “they look like they belong in a service station washroom or a pub, but not in a grade A office building”.
• Many owners view purchasing these systems as an added and unwanted expense, and they can be costly to purchase and install if many are required.
• At one time these systems offered business and building owners a return on their investment; however that return today is nominal.
• Many systems break down frequently, and when they do break down, it can be hard to find someone to repair them. Often replacing them is the only option, adding to their costs.

To address this last issue, Seretsky indicates at least one company now provides, at no charge, the internal mechanisms  that often need repair in sanitary products dispensing systems. Along with
providing more attractive dispensers, this makes it more likely owners and managers will select and install them in ladies’ washrooms.

“Tampons should be treated like paper towels or toilet paper, something that must be stocked in every women’s washroom,” adds Seretsky. “Providing attractive dispensing equipment and these mechanisms for free helps ensure this happens.”

Contract cleaners

In reference to the Duty of Care regulations mentioned earlier, feminine napkin receptacles must also be part of every women’s washroom. Many countries around the world have rules and regulations regarding how these receptacles are to be cleaned.

In addition ISSA, the worldwide cleaning association, provides contract cleaners an easily accessible guide on proper cleaning procedures. Called Best Cleaning Practices: Feminine Care Waste Receptacles, the guidelines are available online and cover everything from how to clean and
disinfect receptacles to how to ensure they are adequately cleaned by using ATP-monitoring devices.

“I know this is something most men and women don’t like to talk about, and that includes janitorial distributors and contract cleaners,” says Seretsky. “However, with cultural change and the menstrual equity movement growing stronger, we must view tampon dispensers and receptacles as one more thing we can provide and maintain for our customers.”

Dawn Shoemaker is a freelance writer in the US who frequently writes on cleaning and hygiene issues.