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RAS trains more Eco-Assessors & working professionals After training a pool of 5 Certified Eco-Assessors (CEAs) in August, RAS trained 8 more CEAs in November to cater to the rising participation of the Happy Toilet Programme (HTP). CEAs play a vital role in the sustainability of clean public toilets given that they work closely with us to certify public toilets under the HTP. Retirees and housewives, who are mostly low income earners and unemployed, have been recruited and trained as CEAs. This will serve as an alternative source of income for them who are mostly unable to commit to full-time work. Currently, there are about 20 active CEAs. More owners are encouraged to participate in the HTP not only to certify their quality toilets but also provide financial assistance to the pool of CEAs who are paid for certifying their quality toilets. Following training sessions conducted for logistic and hospital personnel in May and August respectively, RAS trained a group of cleaning crew from CBM Pte Ltd, the cleaning contractor of City Square Mall (CSM), on 27th Oct. Two sessions consisting of a total of 21 participants were conducted at CSM with the crew embarking on a restroom journey with the RAS trainer. Participants were equipped with useful knowledge and practical skills of inspecting restroom cleanliness based on the same checklist used by the Volunteer Eco-Assessors. For their commitment, CSM and CBM were awarded the LOO Awards under the organisation and cleaning industry categories respectively.

RAS recruits Volunteer Eco-Assessors (VEAs) via MediaCorp Radio Capital 958 Upon the request from a Capital 958 journalist, RAS met up with the journalist at a Chang Cheng Mee Wah (CCMW) coffeeshop in Bukit Batok on 12th August to perform an actual Happy Toilet assessment of its toilet to determine its rating. Eventually, the toilet was certified with a four-star rating. During the assessment, the journalist was provided with basic information on the procedures of assessing the toilets such as the checking of signages, taps, flushing sensors, door locks, lightings, etc. The journalist also conducted an interview session with RAS President Ms Tan Puay Hoon. Ms Tan elaborated on the details of our Happy Toilet Programme (HTP) and the roles of VEAs such as the conducting of at least 2 Happy Toilet mystery checks a year. She also mentioned about the ease and flexibility of volunteering as Eco-Assessors to offer feedback to RAS when they happen to visit any Happy Toilets. Since 2008, RAS has trained about 100 VEAs from the public. After training, VEAs provide feedback to RAS via an online checklist if they happen to visit any Happy Toilets that fail to meet required standards. More VEAs are needed to help ensure that the quality standards of Happy Toilets are constantly met.

RAS conducts first training session for hospital Following two training sessions conducted for logistic personnel in May, RAS was invited by a hospital, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), for the first time, to conduct training session for its managing agent. Ten participants, consisting of managers, supervisors and team leaders, went on a restroom journey with the RAS trainer at IMH. Participants were equipped with useful knowledge and practical skills of inspecting restroom cleanliness based on the same checklist used by the VEAs. The complimentary training session was conducted for IMH as an act of appreciation to their active Happy Toilet participation. RAS is pleased to see participants from the healthcare profession coming in as a new addition to the existing list of diversified participants from the facilities management, construction, logistics and food & beverage profession.

Standards

RAS promotes its Happy Toilet Programme (HTP) with help from the National Environment Agency (NEA) After more than five sessions conducted to food & beverage (F&B) operators in August and September, RAS continues to share its HTP to more owners and operators. Under the strong support of the NEA, six more sessions were conducted from October to December at different NEA Regional Offices. Apart from F&B business owners, government agencies – Housing & Development Board and National Parks Board – together with transport operators SMRT and SBS Transit were also invited by the NEA to attend the session. Companies offering restroom products and services such as Rentokil Initial and Tav Shield were also invited to some of these sessions to provide innovative solutions. With the growing interest among food operators in the HTP, NTUC Foodfare became the first food operator with 100% of its toilets certified as Happy Toilets. A media briefing was organised by the NEA on 30th November at an NTUC Foodfare coffee shop in Jurong West. NTUC Foodfare Chief Executive Officer Mr Perry Ong was also present to share with the media their commitment to upkeep good toilet standards. Other food operator chains such as Broadway, Chang Cheng Mee Wah, Koufu and S-11 have also committed to certify 100% of its toilets as Happy Toilets.

RAS holds its first Happy Toilet Seminar A strong turnout of about 100 committed Happy Toilet owners and other interested participants came under one roof at the Environment Building on 21st March. Participating organisations, both from the government and private of varied industries – food & beverage, hospitality & tourism, healthcare and others – were provided with firsthand information about the Happy Toilet Programme (HTP). RAS would also like to express its sincere thanks and appreciation to the Building & Construction Authority (BCA), National Environment Agency (NEA), PUB, Rentokil Initial and World Toilet College (WTC) for taking time to share other useful information related to the restroom environment. BCA spoke about the concept of Universal Design and its applications in the restroom environment while NEA elaborated on the Code of Practice on Environmental Health (COPEH) on public toilets. PUB updated on water conservation and allowable flow rate for taps and showers. Rentokil offered solutions on pest control in toilets followed by WTC offering solutions on toilet cleaning and maintenance. Before the seminar was concluded with a Q&A session, RAS conducted its first mass Eco-Assessor training session for the participants on the steps of inspecting toilets to meet HTP standards. After this seminar, RAS is looking forward to more Happy Toilet participation. [View photos]

RAS presents 5-star Happy Toilet certification to Kovan 209 Market and Food Centre More toilets in market and food centres are sprucing up to meet our prestigious 5-star rating and the Kovan 209 Market and Food Centre is one of them. The market and food centre under the Aljunied Town Council is the 6th market and food centre with 5-star Happy Toilet. At its official opening on 22nd January, Guest-of-Honour Mdm Cynthia Phua, who is also the Chairman of Aljunied Town Council, witnessed the presentation of various certification to the market and food centre namely the BCA's Green Mark, PUB's Water Efficient Building, NEA's Singapore's OK and our Happy Toilet certification. Before the Happy Toilet assessment of its toilets, the Aljunied Town Council had approached us for an on-site consultation on the criteria of meeting the HTP 5-star rating. The town council was committed to implement the recommendations proposed to them and the toilets were eventually certified with a 5-star rating. Currently, all the toilets in market and food centres certified with a 5-star rating come from the central and northeast districts. RAS awaits market and food centres from other districts achieving the 5-star rating.