PF311 Handwashing and drying facilities

There are facilities (or appropriate arrangements in place) for hygienic handwashing and drying in any ECE Activity Room.

How to show you are complying 

You must provide handwashing and drying facilities for both children and adults in any ECE Activity Room. They should meet the particular requirements of children using them. 

As an example, a handwashing basin may not be appropriate in a room that is going to be used by children that are nil by mouth (unless it is fitted with some way of ensuring children do not have independent access to the water). In this instance, the play specialist would need to be able to provide moistened individual flannels for children, and supervised handwashing to ensure the child does not try to suck them.

Safe and easy access

Make sure children can access the handwashing and drying facilities safely and easily.

Children who use the toilet independently must be able to access handwashing and drying facilities without adult help. If there is a door, children must be able to open it easily. 

You can use taps that turn themselves off, with a very easy lever for children to operate. Taps of this type prevent water from being left on. 

When using taps that “turn”, it is a good idea to ask the plumber to limit the amount of “turn” to 180 degrees. This will ensure that children don’t keep turning a tap the wrong way in an effort to turn it off, eventually given up. 

One way to make access to handwashing easier is to install child-sized hand basins. To best suit older children these should be between 550 and 600mm high, and 450 to 500mm high for young children. 

If you don’t use child-sized basins, you may need to provide steps so children can reach facilities safely.

Providing liquid soap is recommended because it reduces the spread of infection. It should be easily accessible for each child using handwashing facilities. 

There are several options when drying hands.

• Paper hand towels are effective at reducing the spread of infection because they are individual and disposable.

• Air/fan dryers, but they might be noisy and may not be suitable for children in the ECE activity room.