Hotels and motels use antimicrobials in routine cleaning of guest rooms and on-premise laundering to ensure clean and sanitary bed and bath linens. The same procedures apply to health clubs. Disinfectants are used in public restrooms in hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and other facilities frequented by the public to reduce or prevent the spread of infections.
The routes of transfer of disease-causing microorganisms include sinks, faucet handles, bathrooms, counters, tables and desk tops. Regular hand washing, the use of disinfectant cleaners on surfaces and objects and general cleanliness are important practices.
Hotels and motels are also often equipped with indoor and/or outdoor swimming pools and whirlpools. These pools create an additional need for antimicrobials. Microbial growth, while encouraged by sunlight, still can flourish in the indoor environment. The use of antimicrobials for biological control is therefore necessary in the treatment of swimming pool and spa waters; otherwise, biological contamination would result, indicated by the water’s discoloration and bad odor. Hotels and motels rely on antimicrobials to lower the risk of disease and increase aesthetics for their guests’ recreational enjoyment.
Proper treatment of cooling towers, which are an integral part of temperature control systems in hotels and motels, also relies on the use of antimicrobials. Cooling towers are like air scrubbers, remove chemicals and biological contamination from the air and trap it in the cooling liquid (see Industrial Uses). Without antimicrobials, such systems can rapidly become contaminated with a variety of harmful microorganisms. Hotels and motels use antimicrobials in these systems to prevent the spread of disease through ventilation equipment.

Offices

Hand washing while at work is most often discussed in connection with the food handling and food preparation industry where the consequences of poor personal hygiene could be outbreaks of disease. However, in addition to the obvious exposures inherent in food handling, there are other activities encountered at work that lead to exposure to potentially harmful microorganisms. These include handshaking, exposure to sick colleagues in meetings, contact with the public, sharing objects such as public toilets, telephones, exercise equipment and money, as well as other obvious situations such as those encountered by animal handlers or sanitation workers.
The Mayo Clinic points out that it is important to wash hands after using the bathroom, handling food, handling money, coughing, sneezing, etc. Additionally, good manufacturing practices require hand washing under several circumstances.
Evidence indicates that many communicable diseases, such as hepatitis, and gastrointestinal problems including diarrhea and upper respiratory diseases, are spread through contact with contaminated environmental surfaces and inanimate objects.
"Viruses can live for a few hours on surfaces such as a doorknob, pencil or some other object touched by someone who has been sneezing, handling tissues or wiping his face," said Wrynn Smith in A Profile of Health and Disease in America. "If a well person comes in contact with the same surface and also touches his own face, he can transfer the virus to portals of entry." A study published in Infection Control Hospital Epidemiology found that one strain of a pathogenic bacterium that could cause blood and wound infections (A. calcoaceticus) survived one to two weeks on a FormicaTM surface.
While the battle against communicable diseases is a constant one, society does have some help. Along with medical breakthroughs in drugs, vaccinations and surgical procedures, today's society is equipped with modern-day disinfectants. Various researchers have acknowledged that disinfectants, applied to contaminated surfaces and objects, can play a key role in reducing the spread of colds and other potentially infectious diseases.
"It is reasonable to believe that the presence of infectious viruses in our environment, deposited on a surface or inanimate object, constitutes a threat to the human welfare," said Richard L. Crowell. "If one can reduce the amount of virus infectivity on inanimate objects by the use of virucidal disinfectants, it is axiomatic that the opportunity for this virus to be transmitted to humans will be significantly reduced."
Disinfection is an important way to protect all family members from illness including those with vulnerable immune systems (newborns and children, the elderly, people with a serious illness or recovering from hospitalization) as well as healthy family members who are at risk from problems like food poisoning, the common cold or other transmittable diseases.