[Pseudo Poll] In the name of science!

[Mazer]

This is a question I think about regularly. Let's say... a few times each week. But I always forget to ask around. Let's suppose you are about to open a door. The door (pull) handle looks somewhat like this:

code:

/////         /////    _    /////   | |   /////   | |   /////   |  ===/////   | |   /////   | |   /////   | |   /////   |  ===/////   | |   /////   |_|   /////         /////         /////

such that you are viewing the handle from the right, and the slashes represent the door.

The question is this: where would you grab the handle to pull?

[bugzpodder]

middle?

[md]

Umm... the top or the middle; the top is better cause you can let go easier and quicker.

[person]

middle

[Tony]

Aim for the middle, but who knows. Contrary to md, it might be easier to grab from the bottom (as you hand rises?), but you'd have to pull harder due to the odder angle. I think it would probably depend what position your body is in when you go for the handle.

I'm curious as to what kind of scientific value this poll has?

[Cervantes]

Top, hands down.
pun intended

[Silent Avenger]

I'd go with the bottom because firstly, the people who play practical jokes by putting something on the handle tend to put it on the top or middle and not the bottom and therefor you avoid that. Secondly, all the skin cells that scrape off onto the handle hold bacteria there and since the top and middle of the handle is used the most they will most likely hold more bacteria that will be transfered to your hand and anything you touch. This is my way of thinking and might not be right or the best way but that's how I see it.

[Mazer]

Silent Avenger, you've ruined it.

The purpose of this study is sanitation. Any time I need to use a restroom on campus, I tend to ask myself which part of the handle is the least likely to have been touched by someone. I try not to be a freak about germs, but it's not an issue I can ignore when I see people leaving without washing their hands.

But in the end, it's all in vain.
- The building has been around for years with lots of traffic; it's likely to have been touched everywhere by at least one sicko, and do janitors sanitize handles?
- I'm walking around a freaking campus opening doors, touching tables, typing on keyboards (fucking yuck) all over the place. Nobody is safe!
- etc.

Incidentally, I tend to go for the bottom part. Either the very tip with the smallest surface area of a finger, or gripping the metal that connects the handle to the door as close to the door as I can get. I would do the open-door-with-paper-towel thing even if it means throwing them on the floor (two doors) but this one just has a hand dryer.

[Silent Avenger]

Sorry about ruining the study. In my case it's the same thing, our high school is from the early 70s or something so it's pretty old and I do that same thing. I suggest buying that hand sanitizer called Purell(sp?) and keep it in your pocket. Just use it every time you think you need to.

[md]

Never mind that the washrooms get cleaned AT least once a day; you'd be better to worry about all the lecture halls that get claned once a week (like wiped down); and that's at most. Bathrooms are the cleanest places on campus!

Oh, and if anyone here goes to UW... on the third floor of MC the mens washroom is used the second least on campus. The least is in DC

[Dan]

I think you worry way to much about the possibility of a few germs. And at lakehead they acuatly do sanitize handles and the hole door (only noticed becues it looked so odd). Honstly if you are going to let a few microbes run your life you might as well get a big buble and stay in that or just seal your self off at home.

Also the way our inume system works is that the more germs you are exposed to the more you will be imnume to if you body sucuesufly fights them off. So aucatly going way out of your way to icelate your self from any contact with germs of any kind could weaken your system.

If you realy i woried about it i whould recomened taking some vitem C tablets and stop worring about door handels.

[wtd]

md wrote:

Oh, and if anyone here goes to UW... on the third floor of MC the mens washroom is used the second least on campus. The least is in DC

You fool! You've ruined it!

[md]

only the second best washroom in MC... there are other equally good ones; and I know of a few in DC that umm... yeah... nm

[Tony]

the study is kind of inaccurate. Washroom's are not supposed to have such handles, as per fire-code the doors are supposed to open outwards, and such is usually accompanied by a flat panel.

Handle's design contributed quite a bit to the above responces. Personally I just kick washroom door open on my way out.. it's a subcontious habit.

(As for the way in, just wash your hands afterwards... it's sanitary to do anyways. And as Dan points out - cleanroom environment does actually make you more prone to illness. And using those "kills 99.9% of bacteria" soaps just speed up the evolution of that other 0.1% killer bacteria!)

[Brightguy]

md wrote:

Oh, and if anyone here goes to UW... on the third floor of MC the mens washroom is used the second least on campus. The least is in DC

Somehow I quite doubt that... What did you do, run a survey? Actually, now that I think about it that would be some pretty interesting data.

Coincidentally, the MC third floor washrooms happen to be my most-used...