Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Singapore launches Clean Public Toilets campaign 2022
Themed 'Public Toilets Shouldn't Be Scary', Singapore's National Environment Agency Clean Public Toilets Campaign 2022, uses humour to appeal to the public to adopt good behaviour and thus avoid the 'toilet horrors' which arise from dirty public toilets. It aims to continue urging users to adopt the behaviours of 'Flush, Clean, Bin, Dry'.
The campaign is running on free-to-air television, and out-of-home, digital and social media platforms. In-situ materials such as posters and wall stickers will be progressively installed in public toilets at hawker centres, selected coffeeshops, parks, beaches and community clubs, to remind public toilet users about good toilet behaviours.
It will also reach out to the larger community through grassroots organisations, NGOs/interest groups partners, as well as educational institutions, to share key messages via their networks and social media platforms. NEA will work with partners to conduct on-ground engagement, designed to encourage public toilet users to practise good toilet behaviour.
Activity sheets will be given out to preschool and primary school students to educate them about good toilet etiquette and hygiene habits.
Having supported the campaign in 2021, the Public Hygiene Council is resuming its partnership with the NEA this year to promote wider awareness of good toilet hygiene habits through its channels and network. The PHC is working with the People's Association to place materials at selected community clubs' toilets and screen the campaign video at community clubs. Through its Neighbourhood Toilets Community Group initiative, it is teaming up with operators of over 100 coffeeshops, to persuade cleaners and users to keep toilets clean.
Lazada and Esso Singapore are partnering the NEA for the first time to drive the campaign. Lazada has developed a special page in its mobile application to introduce the four key campaign messages and list curated products to promote each message. Users will be rewarded with Laz Coins when they access these messages, which can be used to offset their next purchase or to redeem discount vouchers. The page will be active until 1st March.
"Maintaining the cleanliness of public spaces is a collective, nationwide effort that starts from the individual," says Lazada Singapore's CEO Loh Wee Lee. "At Lazada, we want to inculcate social responsibility by spreading NEA's messages to shoppers on our app, while fostering the mindset by making personal hygiene and cleaning products readily available for shoppers to keep their own personal space and homes clean."
Esso Singapore will display the campaign poster in toilets at Esso stations across Singapore to remind users to keep toilets clean, while the National Parks Board will place campaign posters at more than 130 public toilets at parks, gardens and nature reserves.
Chia Seng Jiang, group director parks at the National Parks Board, says: "Having clean toilets at our parks, gardens and nature reserves contribute towards visitors having a more positive experience in our green spaces. Thus, the National Parks Board supports the Clean Public Toilets Campaign, and encourages visitors to be socially responsible and considerate stewards of nature, keeping our green spaces clean for all to enjoy as we transform Singapore into a City in Nature."
To mark the campaign launch, senior parliamentary secretary for sustainability & the environment, Baey Yam Keng, and Public Hygiene Council chairman Edward D'Silva, jointly placed campaign posters near public toilets at the Hawker Centre at 'Tampines Hub'.
Says Edward: "Design and infrastructure can help improve public toilet cleanliness, through making cleaning easier and influencing user behaviour. But more importantly, each of us must be socially responsible in keeping our public spaces and toilets clean. PHC strongly believes that cleanliness and good hygiene habits begin with the individual, and is happy to support NEA in promoting the four clean toilet actions."
Besides efforts to enhance the behaviour of public toilet users, NEA and the Singapore Food Agency have been conducting regular enforcement inspections of public toilets, including those at food establishments. For the failure to provide basic amenities (such as soap or toilet paper) or to keep toilets clean, owners or operators of public toilets can be given a composition fine of up to $400 and $500 for the first and subsequent offences, respectively. Under the Environmental Public Health Act 1987, for lapses such as insufficient basic amenities and unclean toilets in food and non-food establishments, the maximum fine on first conviction is between $2,000 and $5,000, depending on the nature of the lapse.
Chew Ming Fai, NEA deputy chief executive officer and director-general of public health, says: "The Clean Public Toilets campaign underscores the need for all toilet users to use the facilities responsibly. While enforcement actions are taken against owners or operators of poorly maintained public toilets, each of us should adopt a conscientious attitude of cleaning up after ourselves after each use. This shows our care for the environment and is the hallmark of a gracious society."
The NEA's latest Public Toilet Cleanliness Survey, conducted from November 2021 to June 2022, found that hawker centres, coffeeshops and bus interchanges saw improvements in overall toilet cleanliness levels as measured by the Toilet Cleanliness Index, compared to the last survey conducted in 2020. However, efforts to maintain the cleanliness of public toilets need to be sustained and improved.
The survey was based on the Toilet Cleanliness Index - a five-point index that measures the cleanliness level of a toilet based on different aspects or areas within the toilet (for example, whether the toilet floor is dry, and toilet bowls are flushed). The higher the index (maximum of 5), the cleaner the observed toilet conditions.
The six aspects of cleanliness covered in the Index are:
- Toilet bowls flushed
- Toilet bowls not stained/not dirty
- Urinals not stained/not dirty
- Dry cubicle floors
- Dry floors in common areas (near to sink and entrance)
- Floors not stained/not dirty in common areas (near to sink and entrance)
Ho Chee Kit, president of the Restroom Association (Singapore), says:
"For many years, with the strong support from NEA, RAS has been advocating for all stakeholders to actively play their part to help achieve good restroom standard. We are pleased that the restroom environment has evolved over the years, with the strong commitment displayed by all stakeholders."
The Singapore Kindness Movement is alo suppoting the campaign, with its general secretary William Wan saying:
"Clean toilets are not just important for those who use these facilities. They also play an important role in society as a whole, as they promote good public hygiene, which is crucial in reducing the spread of diseases. A clean environment and healthy society starts with you. A kinder you, a stronger us!"
A copy of the campaign video, campaign posters, and in situ materials are available at:
8th December 2022