There are a wide range of benefits to using stainless steel equipment throughout your sluice room. These range from obvious things such as it is a hardwearing, strong material to more obscure things such as the composition of the metal itself.
It’s a smooth surface
While it might seem that lots of materials have a smooth surface, it’s not until you take a closer look under a microscope that you see not all materials are the same. Stainless steel has an extremely smooth surface that doesn’t leave any crevices for bacteria, mould or viruses to take hold and grow.
This is ideal for sluice rooms, as due to the nature of the waste being disposed of, it means any spillages or splashes won’t find their way into cracks or crevices where bacteria and viruses can start to multiply. They can be safely washed away and disinfected afterwards.
A strong and durable material
Stainless steel is naturally a very strong and durable material which makes it ideal for a wide range of applications, including your hospital or care home sluice room. In a fast-paced sluice room, things get bumped and knocked but with stainless steel, this isn’t an issue as you’re less likely to leave any lasting damage.
Corrosion-resistant
Stainless steel is highly resistant to corrosion thanks to the increased chromium and nickel content along with other elements such as molybdenum and nitrogen. Chromium helps to give stainless steel an invisible layer of protection when it reacts to the oxygen in the air. Lower alloy content stainless steel can resist corrosion in most atmospheric and pure water environments. Higher alloy content stainless steel, as used in our products at Stanbridge, can also resist organic chemicals, dyes and higher chloride environments.
This means that you can use much more aggressive cleaning agents on stainless steel without causing damage to the material itself. This is ideal for sluice rooms as these rooms require strong disinfectants due to the nature of what’s being handled in these rooms which can carry dangerous bacteria and viruses.
Cost-effective and delivers long term value
While stainless steel, especially the medical grades, may cost more than other materials, the total life cycle costs often mean that stainless steel becomes the most cost-effective option available. This is due to the durability and low maintenance features that stainless steel offers. We also offer rental and leasing options on our equipment which allows a lower cost of entry to our high quality, long-lasting equipment.
This makes it ideal for hospital and care home sluice rooms as we know these sectors have strict budgets and high standards to maintain.
Easy to clean and more hygienic than the alternatives
The hard metallic surface of stainless steel means that bacteria, mould and viruses find it hard to stick to the surface and survive. At Stanbridge, we also use die-drawn technology to create our sluice room products which provide seamless products. This means that there are no spaces for debris to become trapped and allow bacteria to settle and grow. This is one of the reasons, along with the ability to withstand aggressive cleaning chemicals, why stainless steel has replaced vitreous china in many applications where sanitary environments are required.
A good environment choice
Stainless steel is 100% recyclable meaning that once your products reach their end of life they can be melted down and turned into new equipment. At Stanbridge, this integrates well with our ethos of reducing the waste created by sluice rooms and caring for our environment.
Another environmental benefit is that the natural hygienic properties of stainless steel reduces the need for large volumes of harsh cleaning chemicals. These can often find their way into treatment plants and aquatic ecosystems.
The final environmental benefit is that the low corrosion property combined with the high durability of stainless steel means it’s unlikely you’ll have to replace parts due to corrosion. This reduces the energy required to build and install replacement parts.
Our Sluice Room Products
Here at Stanbridge, we design all of our products to withstand the demands that sluice room equipment goes through. All of our bedpan washers, cupboards, sinks, taps and shelving are built using stainless steel to help keep your hospital patients and care home residents safe from healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs).
By combining this with our industry-leading reusable bedpans, commode pots and urine bottles we can reduce the operating costs of your sluice room while increasing hygiene and safety. This also benefits the environment with reduced energy usage and reduced waste going to sewage treatment plants.
If you’re looking for support in designing your sluice room, or want to increase the levels of reusable equipment in your facility then get in touch with infection prevention experts here at Stanbridge
