Posted By Brian Dawson I think both are generally considered acceptable and much of the literature depends on whether it originated from the suppliers of which equipment! I think there is some evidence that paper towels play a part in actually removing contaminants (often because people don't wash their hands properly) in addition to simply drying the hands. Problems are often with how they are actually used rather than their efficacy if used properly. You often see people lose patience with hot air dryers and complete the job on their clothes. The CIEH responded to consultation on an HSE leaflet about school children visiting farms as follows: 'The information leaflet states " have hot hand dryers, paper towels or roller towel. Reusable towels such as normal hand towels are not suitable". In these circumstances hot-air dryers should only be used as a supplement to paper towels or roller towels, as from personal experience, users will not queue to use them and are so dissuaded from washing their hands during busy periods, or will wipe their wet hands on their clothes as they leave the facility'.

Posted By Richard Ken has a good point. Three of my last five arson attempts have involved setting fire to paper towel holders. On the other hand the current rating of most hand driers is high enough to present a credible risk in the event of malicious damage. This is not, perhaps, the scenario Dave had in mind, but it needs to be considered Richard

Posted By Andy Petrie Hand driers defintely provide the enviromentaly friendly alternative, the huge amounts of hand towels you will get through requires a lot of trees to be cut down and a lot of waste to dispose of. On the hygiene front, no matter how well you wash and dry your hands, the minute you grab the door handle to leave, your hands get covered in germs from everyone else who has failed to wash correclty, negating any advantage gained by using towels.

Posted By Dave Westhead Thank you all for the swift response. The information recieved was once again very helpful. Thanks, Dave.