New Device Will No Longer Require People to Hold Toilet Door Handles

An entrepreneur is going to sell a device that will make it possible for people open doors without using their hands, thus using their feet, in an attempt to prevent germs from spreading, the Daily Mail reports.

Mick Janaway will start selling his product, also known as StepNull in the United Kingdom next week. The simple metal contraption can be screwed onto the bottom of a door, thus allowing a person to place their foot on it and pull the door open without having to use their hands. Janaway admitted that he first came across the device in the United States after he caught an infection that nearly caused him to lose his arms.

In 2012, Janaway had an infection in his bloodstream caused by strep A - a group of bacteria which are usually found on the surface of the skin and inside the throat. "I had four live-saving operations to save my arm and life - at one point I even stopped breathing on the operating table," he said. As a result of his near-death experience, Janaway planned a list of trips to take with his family. "It was there in Colorado that my life changed forever with the discovery of StepNull. The minute I saw it, I was hooked. I just couldn't believe how simple it was and nobody had done it before."

Dr. Klaus Misch, a consultant dermatologist said: "So you think you have clean hands? Typically we have between 10,000 and 10 million germs on our clean hands. This number doubles when we have used the toilet. Research in London estimates that if everyone routinely washed their hands after using the toilet a million deaths could be prevented. StepNull is a product I would personally like to see installed in every hospital, school, restaurant, public house, or indeed anywhere where there is a public toilet."