"Super fast" hand dryers may reduce people's time spent in a public toilet but for some the devices are causing "unwelcome stress", researchers said.Because... they're noisy. Yes.
Which might be a problem for a toilet attendant, but surely not for someone just visiting for the usual purpose for which a toilet is intended, surely?
Researchers from Goldsmiths, University of London, said that the high speed dryers can cause discomfort to elderly dementia sufferers, affect the navigation of visually-impaired people and even force hearing aid users to turn their devices off when entering public toilets.Oh, the humanity! Forced to turn off your hearing aid for 10 whole minutes! Maybe 15 minutes if you had a dodgy kebab!
Something must be done!
Lead author Dr John Levack Drever, head of the unit for sound practice research at Goldsmiths, said: "A wide range of vulnerable subgroups are being seriously affected by hand dryer noise, resulting in unwelcome stress in this sensitive space, and in extreme cases people are being excluded from public spaces, the workplace and schools."'Vulnerable subgroups'! 'Unwelcome stress!' 'Excluded'! It's buzzword bingo!
Dan Pescod, campaigns manager at RNIB, a charity for blind and partially sighted people, added: "Anything which masks ambient sounds could be a problem for a person with sight loss, to a greater or lesser degree. As hand dryers are often situated by doors, loud models could increase the likelihood of a person with sight loss having an accident. RNIB suggests that manufacturers should consider this risk when designing hand-dryers."Maybe they've considered it and decided there's no risk? Did you ever consider that?
Update: ARRRRGH!!
10 comments:
""Maybe 15 minutes if you had a dodgy kebab!""
LOL! But no one in their right minds does a number two in a public loo
Update: ARRRRGH!!
Well.... that shouldn't affect the Elderly, or the poor for that matter - according to "research" most of them claim to only be able to afford to boil the kettle once a day anyway!
I wonder if the Mail are attempting to emulate the "Mash" .. could that be a possibility?
As for the other nonsense, well it's been my experience, far too often, that some of those "vulnerable subgroups" don't even wash their hands, let alone dry them.
Dan Pescod, campaigns manager at RNIB...
Sorry, what was that you said? I'm afraid I was distracted by the incessant droning noises from the likes of you and others on matters so unimportant that it makes me sick.
If I might suggest my Dear - meant in the cost to our pockets sense not romantically - if your argument has any basis or merit, write to the manufacturers. Contacting the media merely reveals your real purpose in life.
Of course, Dr Drever & RNIB conveniently omit to mention that hand dryer noise could be beneficial.
For the sighted, the noise deters prolonged residence (similar to the McD hard-chair)
For the blind, knowing hand dryers 'are often situated by doors' improves their sense of direction.
Anyway, their research tackles the wrong issue:
High-velocity air dryers just blow the germs over the widest area; paper towels are more hygienic.
[But for the latter, a significant number of users who just drop the used towel on the floor are the 'unhygienic' weak link.]
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/06June/Pages/Paper-towels-may-be-more-hygienic-than-hand-dryers.aspx
@Bucko - I used to stay in the home of some very prissy (but nice) friends of ours and took great pains not to pinch one off in their immaculate, tiny WC. It Required Careful Planning.
John Levack Drever has managed to come out with the sort of thing usually devised over a still-smoking 'water pipe' in University halls.
I'd be interested to learn about his thoughts on my flatulence, ideally in viva voce, in case I should abstain from letting go in front of the confused and vulnerable, i.e., the people who pay for this frippery.
OK Boys and Girls! Think back to your physics lessons and try to recall the odd salient fact, or failing that ignore natural laws and design a method of accelerating air without creating noise. Think of the royalties you could gain from the lines of manufacturers queuing up to licence your patent!
"But no one in their right minds does a number two in a public loo"
When you gotta go... ;)
"...according to "research" most of them claim to only be able to afford to boil the kettle once a day anyway!"
*chuckles*
"Of course, Dr Drever & RNIB conveniently omit to mention that hand dryer noise could be beneficial."
When all you have is a hammer, all you're going to see is nails.
"Think of the royalties you could gain from the lines of manufacturers queuing up to licence your patent!"
And when you're done with that, chop chop on that pesky perpetual motion issue!
@ Ancient + Tattered Airman 26 July 2013 21:33 said...
".....design a method of accelerating air without creating noise."
Airflow noise is not necessarily an issue; one simply adds sound attenuation to absorb that noise.
One improved hand dryer is Dyson's AirBlade -
"Air in the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer travels at 430mph through apertures the width of a human eyelash, so sound is inevitable. However, Dyson acoustic engineers have now significantly reduced the unpleasant tones using six Dyson-designed Helmholtz silencers."
http://www.dysonairblade.co.uk/hand-dryers/airblade-mk2/airblade-mk2/features.aspx
Just to be contrary I have to say I agree.
Much of the modern equipment we use, from vacuum cleaners to garden machinery is very poorly designed from the nuisance and noise angle. Reduced noise - and hence comfort to everyone - should be a high priority, wheras we tend to just accept hiddeously noisy appliances as normal. But actually it's not normal.
Public toilets are hardly the worst of the problem - they don't compare with the neighbour's 2 stroke industrial petrol strimmer at 7:15am - but some are indeed noisy to the point of discomfort, one unpleasantness I could easily live without.
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