The Secret Horrors of Feminine Hygiene

Ceris Burns, Marketing Manager with Kennedy Hygiene Products takes a down to earth look at Feminine Hygiene.

I remember a male friend of mine who confided that he used to think that women used just one tampon each month! That was until he lived with his girlfriend and got a crash course in reality. Yes, women can even spend a fair bit on their monthly supply of towels and tampons. On average a woman will use approximately 10,000 sanitary dressings of one type or another in her lifetime!

To help out poor souls like my friend, I thought it might be responsible of me to let gentlemen readers into a few secrets of the horrors ladies experience once a month in public washrooms.

It's that time of month, a couple of hours since you checked and you get that feeling. You fidget, secretly wiggle a bit and decide maybe you'd better get to a toilet before it gets embarrassing. Find the washroom and sometimes there's no feminine hygiene bin in sight. Often there is, but that doesn't mean to say we'll use it. We're very particular, almost feline in this sense. If the bin provided isn't just so, no doubt about it, we won't use it.

If the bin is dirty or flimsy, we have to touch it anywhere, it's difficult to reach/open, or uncomfortable to use in any way, we'll drop the soiled dressing down the loo, flush and go. We feel a bit guilty for our actions but then, if the facility isn't up to scratch why should we abide by the rules?

You find a cubicle with a bin and prepare for the operation in hand. You assume the standing or hovering position as preferred (taking great care that your bare skin doesn't come into contact with the toilet seat). You remove the soiled object and hope to dispose of it as quickly as possible so you can put a new one in place and get out of there.

This is where the fun starts…. You're still hovering or standing. If you're hovering you've got leg ache and know it won't be long til your legs give way and you touch the dreaded toilet seat. Next you can expect to experience one of the following likely scenarios:

§ Horror Story 1 - You look to the feminine hygiene bin. Yuck, I'm not touching that. It's filthy and got soiled towels coming out of the flap. Can I open it without touching it? No pedal, no electronic opening. I'll get a bit of toilet paper and open it with that… None left. You give in, turn and throw it down the loo.

§ Horror Story 2 - You look to the feminine hygiene bin. Yuck, I'm not touching that. Oh, it's O.K it's got a pedal. Today you're tired, the loo looks clean enough so you're sitting. You try to manoeuvre but you can't press the pedal with your foot without standing up and turning around, tampon dangling dangerously in hand. After a few attempts you give in and throw it down the loo. You noticed another bin outside the cubicle but there are no disposal bags in the cubicle. However feline you may be, you wouldn't want to show your catch to the others queuing outside.

§ The Happy Ending - You look to the feminine hygiene bin. Wow, that's smart. A lustrous pristinely clean, sleek little number. No waste visible either. You don't have to manoeuvre around the bin, it's a nice slim shape and fits inconspicuously down the side of the toilet. There's a matching dispenser with disposal bags too. You pop the towel in a bag. Manual or pedal opening? Today you can choose. You opt for the pedal, you're standing. The flap opens. Nice design - you can't see what's inside. You drop the offending object inside. You put on a clean towel, dress and go. What a treat, I'll certainly remember to drop in here next month you think to yourself.

Joking aside, often it really isn't a very pleasant experience. There should be no excuse for establishments to offer suitable facilities – the latest designed bins can easily alleviate the above unpleasant scenarios. What's more, whilst the provision of suitable facilities will breed good will and loyalty amongst staff and customers, it also means that an establishment is abiding by the law.

If you employ staff or have members of the public in your establishment you are affected by washroom laws. With reference to feminine hygiene, the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare Regulations) 1992, recommends that all ladies washrooms should have a facility for collection of sanitary waste. This is reinforced by the Water Industries Act 1991 which states that no items should be flushed that can cause harm to the sewer or drain. In addition, the Duty of Care - The Environmental protection Act 1990 places a "Duty of Care" on all waste producers to dispose of waste responsibly.

The well informed are aware that the benefits of providing feminine hygiene facilities far outweigh the costs involved. However, as my earlier humorous scenarios highlight, an establishment should take extra care to provide suitable facilities which women will want to use. An establishment may believe it is abiding by the law but they will be indirectly breaking it if its customers don't use the facility. Rajeshwar Singh of Armada Hygiene explains his criteria for choosing a suitable bin; "When selecting a feminine hygiene unit we not only consider how easy it is to service but also how well it works for the woman using it. Our research has shown that women want to dispose of their sanitary waste as quickly and as hygienically as possible. Pedal operated or electronic no-touch bins score particularly well for this reason".

The future? A combination of new innovative bin designs, experienced hygiene service providers and willing establishments, seem to suggest a lot more happy endings than horror stories.



Lost & Found
Unusual Objects Found in Feminine Hygiene Bins

Banana skins

Chocolate bars

Wallets

Purses

Vodka Bottles

Syringes

Clothes

Love Letters

Pregnancy Kits

Faeces

Shoes

Boots

Often women don't use feminine hygiene bins and when they do they don't always just dispose of sanitary waste…. "We are amazed by what we sometimes find in the bins. Wallets and purses, banana skins and believe it or not, in factories we've even found new boots. On a more serious note though we do sometimes find syringes." Vicki Allen of B Hygienic.

High Risk Servicing

Using feminine hygiene bins is often not pleasant but servicing can highlight more serious problems. Vicki continues; "There are areas of high risk in the servicing of feminine hygiene bins. Take public toilets and care centres for the homeless for example. From time to time we find used syringes from drug users in the bin liners. Our service operatives are warned to exercise extreme caution when handling liners in these places. We operate 100% liner exchange service. This means that we can offer that little extra to our customer and our customer's customer. Through liner exchange we are able to monitor contents and can trace and alert our customers of any problems they may not be necessarily aware of in their establishments."


Ends