Hygiene in the Spa
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009“Like the cleanliness of a guest hotel room, cleanliness of a spa, along with good hygiene and sanitation practices, are absolutely necessary and should never be compromised.” So says Georgia Sutherland, owner of spa Alliance spa consultancy management group and Glo Day Spa in Bali. She’s right. After all when you think about it spas are a perfect breeding ground from germs; the dark corners and damp surfaces of the steam room for example, are an ideal environment for fungus if the right steralisation measures haven’t been put in place.
Reassuringly, in response to increasing customer expectations, spas are taking an extremely pro-active stance to hygiene…… Sean O’ Connor, Group Spa Manager – Design and Development for the mandarin Oriental Hotels ….. explains that the three primary transmission risk elements are water, air and surface touch. “While all can be managed, the major issue in spas is water.” He advises spas to introduce benchmark sanitary standards, which include schedule internal and external audits; and investment into technologies that prevent the spread of disease. “Consider everything from devices that instantly assess bacteria counts using bacterial swabbing to mold and mildew prevention, prevention with disinfection, water management, food hygiene and personal hygiene.” Sutherland agrees, “All equipment should disposable or sanitisable. Bacteria needs food, water and oxygen to grow which means that materials such as wood (which are porous) are not ideal as they harbor bacteria.”…..
One solution to this problem? Creating green spas of course. “Our ‘Pure Rooms’ are cleaned organically using natural methodologies including ‘ozonation’ air purifiers (a process that destroys bacteria and other microorganisms with out using chemicals), and de-chlorinated water facilities that create a pure and clean guest room space,” says O’Conner. “We have guests paying a 20 percent premium for these rooms, so yes there is certainly a market willing to pay for a room that has been ‘green cleaned’.”
All in all its best to choose a spa that explains its cleaning process, or mentions it in its marketing. As Matherick points out, “If they are making a points of it, then they are putting the energy in and ensure the staff understand how effective procedures such as hand washing are in reducing contagious diseases.”
Exert from; Hygiene in the Spa, AsiaSpa November – December 2009, written by Judy Chapman