We reached this article through a tactile interface.  Whether this be a smartphone screen, mouse or keyboard we applied our hands, as we have done consistently since humans left the ground as early simians.  Where have our hands been today? How effectively did we wash them? What have they touched? Did we think about that before we put our lunch in our mouths with our hands after touching the keyboard?  This author can show you an extensive assortment of consumer or corporate level computer optimisation options.  However, I do not usually give considerable attention to the keyboard I am typing with or the mouse I am using to move around this document as I type.

Sitting at 30,000 feet I am drawn towards wondering about travelling and hygiene. In my past I have done it all. From the sneaky, walking as bold as brass through reception for a 5 star wee through to disappearing to the far side of a Russian furlong on the Mongolian Steppe to dig a hole just metres from my travelling companions to do my business. This is not, however, about that. This is about the average modern journey of the like that many of you will take with your loved ones this summer to escape the eternal British rain…..in July….and onwards.

Ah, that innocuous sign. Something we see almost every day of our lives but, for many, one that doesn't have a lot of meaning. Indeed even in facilities management it can be hard to get this washroom solution right. What are the issues? Why is it so hard to provide a decent accessible solution? What can we do better?

My childhood was spent watching my family run their outside catering business. Periodically we’d be blessed with a visit from the health inspectors. That episode of Fawlty Towers is far more accurate than people realise. We had, at the maximum, 16 cats. Don’t remember how, we just did. Worse still, I’m allergic to cats?! Anyway, I digress. The doorbell would go, my Mum would wander to the door, see the health inspector then...