Criterion PF118#

There is at least 1 tap delivering warm water (over an individual or shared handbasin) for every 15 persons. Persons are children attending and adults counting towards minimum adult:child ratio requirements.

# There are appropriate handwashing/drying facilities to minimise the spread of infection. Handwashing/drying facilities accessed after using the toilet are:

• adequately separated from play and food preparation areas; and
• are safe for children capable of independent toileting to use without adult help. 

Guidance#

How to show you are complying #

You must provide appropriate handwashing and drying facilities for both children and adults.

The number of taps needed depends on how many children your service is licensed for and how many adults work at your service.  You must have at least one warm tap (25°C to 40°C) over a hand basin for every 15 people.

Taps can be placed over individual or shared handbasins.

You must take steps to minimise the spread of infection from handwashing or drying facilities

To minimise the spread of infection, surfaces of handwashing facilities must be smooth, and easy to clean.

You will need to provide soap for use when washing hands. Liquid soap is best because it minimises the spread of infection.

There are several options to help minimise the spread of infection when drying hands:

• paper hand towels are also effective at reducing the spread of infection because they are individual and disposable
• air or fan dryers, but they might be noisy and may not be suitable for children in the service
• individual cloth flannels, these must only be used once before washing.

Ventilation is also needed to reduce airborne pathogens from spreading, this can include extraction fans or windows that encourage airflow. 

Handwashing and drying facilities used with toilets must be clearly separated from areas used for play and food preparation

There are multiple ways to separate handwashing and drying facilities used with toilet facilities from play and food preparation areas. You could have:

• a separate bathroom
• design solutions which create visual and physical barriers separating the toilet and handwashing areas.

This does not prevent you from also providing additional handbasins specifically for play or kitchen use.

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.

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