Professional Skill 3
Full name: Ngô Văn Trường Giang Student HUST ID: 20234621
Class: PS3_157454 Student PMU ID: 20224766
Date of submission: 13/06/2025
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
PROBLEM-SOLVING REPORT
I. Premilinary research
The Sports Complex at Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) is one of the
largest and most significant facilities in the universitty. According to information from HUST
website (2019), this complex is an area of 4800 square meters and remains a seating capacity of
more than 1200 units, where often holds a wide range of sports activities. These includes daily
physical education classes, sports club athletic competitions, national sporting events, and
community ocassions. Besides, this place iss also equipped with modern infrastructure such as
central air condiction system, student assistance offices, advanced information desks, and both A
and B grandstands for excellent experiencing sporting activities. Therefore, the Sports Complex
became a symbol of HUST.
However, compared to its modern architecture, the condition of the toilet facilities has been
regularly poor. Continuous complaints from students, internal staff, and visitors have highlighted
several serious issues. These includes a lack of toilet paper, hand soaps, and mirrors; broken or
missing door locks; unpleasant smells; dirty floors; and misleading signal “VIP toilet” despite
understandard conditions. These problems not only result in uncomfortable feelings among daily
users but also raise concerns regarding hygience and people health. Additionally, the reputation and
professionalism of HUST may be affected when outside visitors or guests use the toilets during
events.
This memorandum is written to handle the situation and to suggest specific, actionable
solutions that address both the root causes and visible impacts of the issues.
II. The Report
1. Name of the report: Report on the poor condition of the toilets at HUST’s Sports
Complex
2. Outline of the report
MEMORANDUM
FROM: Ngo Van Truong Giang – Head of the Physical Education teachers
TO: Nguyen Kim Phuc – Head of HUST Sports Complex’s Management Board
SECONDARY READERS: Student Service Department
DATE: 13/06/2025
SUBJECT: The poor condition of the toilets at HUST’s Sports Complex
A. Introduction
- Overview of the problem, describe why it is urgent and need to be improve suddenly.
- Issue reports: lots of complaints sent via emails
- Method used: observation and survey
- Suggestions review
B. Facts and Methodology
- Method used: direct observation and questionaire-based survey
- Key findings: Photos taken around the toilets and data collected from the survey
C. Discussion
Discuss 3 main issues reported:
- Lack of basic hygience supplies
- Absence of cleaning Schedule
- Persistent strong odor
- Other problems
D. Conclusion
- Problems come from both objective and subjective factors
- Immediate actions must be taken to deal with these current issues
- Neglect will have big impacts on our university
E. Recommandations
- Restock hygiene supplies more often
- Create a structured cleaning schedule
- Introduce a feedback system
- Replace or repair broken door locks, and remove “VIP Toilet” sign
- Install mirrors and addtional amenities (hand dryers, hooks, and scent boxes)
F. References
G. Appandix
3. The report
MEMORANDUM
FROM: Ngo Van Truong Giang – Head of the Physical Education teachers
TO: Nguyen Kim Phuc – Head of HUST Sports Complex’s Management Board
SECONDARY READERS: Student Service Department
DATE: 13/06/2025
SUBJECT: The poor condition of the toilets at HUST’s Sports Complex
A. Introduction
This report shows the worsening conditions of the toilets at the HUST Sports Complex. The
issue has become increasingly urgent due to the daily usage from students and faculty staff ,
especially during PE classes, sports competitions, and university-wide events. Restroom facilities
remain bad hygience condition, which negatively affects students and staff’s comfort, and may
further harm the university image.
Since the first of this year, we have received hundreds complaint emails and papers about the
condition of the restrooms. To clarify this situation, we made some observation through the toilets,
conducted a structured survey to gather data from 100 people in a week, then proposed a set of
practical actions to deal with the issue. Overall, this report demonstrates an overview of the
situation, the methology used to gain evidence, a detailed disscussion about the data collected, and
recommendations for improvement.
B. Facts and Methology
According to Circular No.27/2011/TT-BYT published by th Ministry of Health, all toilets in
public institutions must meet hygience and structual standards. These features are categorized as
clean, non-slippery floors, proper air-freshening, fixed water flushing systems, closed waste tanks,
and anti-pest environment. Additionally, modern toilets are encouraged to equipped with automatic
water faucet system, hand soaps, and lightning, all contributing to sanitation, cost efficiency, and
environmental protection.
However, based on our direct observation and survey responses, the toilet facilities at the
HUST Sports Complex fail to meet many of these basic standards. At first, to have a sight into the
problem, we started an exploration, which allow us to get an overview about this issue and to see it
in real life. In our observation (supported by photographic evidence below), we discover that the
restrooms are often dirty, remains unpleasant odors, and lack of necessary items like toilet paper,
soaps, and mirrors.
Figure 1. Lack of hand soaps, mirror, and hand tissue in the
cleaning place.
Figure 2. Lack of toilet
paper and bidet shower in
the tolet cabin.
Cabin door locks are broken or lost.
Figure 3. Broken door lock Figure 4. Lost door lock
Morever, there is misleading signal “VIP Toilets”.
Figure 5. Misleading sign
Not only these issues do not follow the national hygiene requirements but also directly cause
negative inpacts on user experience and health.
After the observation, we carried out a questionaire-based survey which is designed and shared
to all students, staff, and visitors who had experienced the Sports Complex to understand the
extreme of the problem. Based on the data collected from total 100 responses, we found out 5 key
findings:
- 87,5% described the toiletries are not often availible, over 20% of these respondents
believe that such items have never been there.
- 72,2% felt unpleasant to very unpleasant when they think about the smell or odor inside the
restroom.
- 70,8% of respondents reported that the cleanliness of the toilets is dirty to very dirty.
- 68,1% conveyed dissastifaction or strong dissastifaction with the toilet conditions.
- 63,4% expressed that they felt either unsafe or extremely unsafe while using the water
closets
C. Discussion
The data collections from survey and observation point to a number of dissolved issues that
have resulted in the current complaints about the Sports Complex restrooms. There are three main
issues contains the absence of basic hygiene supplies, the lack of cleaning schedules, and the
strong, persistent odor presenting in the toilets.
Lack of basic hygiene supplies
Obviously, the most significant problem facing the toilet condition is the shortages in basic
toiletries. In the figure 1, we can see there are no holding places for handsoap or paper towels. The
cleaning staff also do not put or restock these items in the sink area. This is because of the careless
and unprofessional in setting up process, when the installer did not install soap dispensers and toilet
paper holders near the sinks or toilets. However, this may come from the lack of expenses in
buying and installing such products, when the funds for building this complex are not a huge
number. As a result, the management board might have decided to cut down costs for some
materials, which include basic hygiene supplies.
On the constrary, while the investment for the Sports complex is not high, the C7 Department
got $50 million of total investment (HUST website, 2023), which allow this department to become
the most modern building of HUST and contain a lot of high-quality equipments, classes, labs, and
toilet facilities with a full set of supplies. Understandbly, when a building get a low investment and
fundings, its managers have to make unwanted decisions, even though these decisions can
negatively affect its user experience.
Another reason for this problem is the lack of restocking plans for these hygiene products,
which reflects the careless maintenance and irresponsible supervision from both cleaning staff and
the facility management team, leads to the rise of serious concerns among toilet users:
- Affects individual hand-washing practices.
- Spread bacteria and virusses, especially in public places like universities, thread a risk of
raising health problems.
- Reduce trust in institution’s management, leads to decline in overall respect to our
university.
Lack of cleaning schedules
There is no clear and practical cleaning schedule for the complex at the moment. This problem
results from the loss of professional administrators, who can make a structured cleaning routine for
restrooms. No visible cleaning plan means the toilets are neglected, no one has responsibility to
clean them; therefore; cleaning staff may not clear up this place frequently. This is a chance for the
accumulation of dirt, bacteria, unpleasant smells, uncleaned toilets, and unemptied trash bins,
which extremely impacts user experience.
Morever, from a health and safety perspective, the shortage of cleaning helps raise the risk of
digestive and gastrointestinal diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, hepatitis A, and other
intestinal diseases (VN press, 15 Feburary 2023). In the public setting of the Sports complex with
high rate of people meeting, this lack of effective sanitation management can easily start an
appearence of serious public health concerns.
The strong and persistent odor
The strong, consant odor present in the water closets is originated from poor cleaning, stucked
toilets, and unemptied trash bins. Additionally, leaking pipes, wasted water in sink area or toilets
can contribute to the worsening of the smell. The result is a combination of both problems above:
the absense of regular cleaning routine and the shortage of basic hygiene supplies such as hand
cleaners and toilet paper, which allows germs and virus to grow up, make the smell stronger, and
harm people health. This bad odor makes toilet’s users feel uncomfortable and likely stop using it
in their next time when they come back the Sports Complex.
Together with 2 previous mentioned issues, the persistent odor increasingly reinforces doubts
about the quality of HUST’s facility from both university-side people and visitors, which could
seriously damage the university’s reputation.
Other problems
The “VIP toilet” sign creates false expectations for users. When students, teachers, or visitors
see poor conditions of the restroom such as dirty floors, no mirrors, missing handsoap or toilet
paper; they may feel disappointed or frustrated. It gives the impression that the sign is a joke sign
or has not been removed, which can lead people to wonder how honest and serious the facility
management is.
Broken or missing cabin door locks affect users’ sense of safety and privacy, especially for
women. As we reported, 54,2% respondants pointed that there are a wide range of equipments
which are broken or unused , 63,4% felt unsafe and even afraid after using restrooms that lack of
secure locks. This is clearly understandable when doors that cannot close, it certainly make users
feel very unsafe and uncomfortable during toilet use. Therefore, we predict that they would avoid
using the toilets again due to the shortages of stuff repairment and users’ anxiety while using these
toilets. This issue lead to the decrease of users’ trust in the university’s sports complex and even
other facilities.
D. Conclusion
Overall, whether the critically poor condition of the toilets at HUST’s Sports Complex may
come from objective factors like insufficient investment, low budget for development or subjective
causes like extremely weak management, they are all unacceptable and must be addressed
immediately. This situation affect negatively not only individuals’ experience but also the
university’s reputation at present and in the future, which decreases the enrollment rate of students,
the engagement of staff, and the attention from outside institutions.
E. Recommendations
To handle the issues effectively in both short and long run, we respectfully initiate these
recommendations in prioritized order. These suggestions have been arranged based on urgency,
possibility, and overall effect, start with the most essential actions that can be taken with lowest
cost or delay. Suggested actions:
- Replenish handsoap, toilet paper, and sanitizer on a daily basis. Basic hygiene supplies
must always be available in the toilet. As we researched, the total cost for these stuff is
about 150000VND ($5,8) that contains handsoap, toilet paper, paper box, and santinizer for
each toilet. If they are restocked weekly, it would be 600000VND ($23.01) each month.
With the monthly budget is 2000000VND ($76.7) for restroom maintenance and cleaning
supplies, the cost spent for purchasing hygiene supplies is reasonable, the rest of the budget
will be used for other stuff and services.
- Post a fixed cleaning schedule in each restroom. A clear and regular cleaning routine allow
cleaning staff to work in an organized and continuous way, helps maintain sanitation and
users’ trust on using these toilets. This action takes zero cost and effort, you can do it
immediately.
- Create a user feedback system using a QR code, which can go along with the cleaning
schedule to get feedbacks about the restroom and issues would be addressed more quickly.
This system develops a shared environment where both users and monitors take
responsibility to keep the toilet facilities always clean.
- Replace all broken toilet doors, locks and misleading “VIP toilet” sign. Individual comfort
and safety must be respected in everywhere, especially in toilet cabin where people answer
the nature callss and sensitive body parts are exposed. These are simple physical functions
of a restroom that must be prioritized to repair and improve in order to gain users’ better
feedbacks.
- Install mirrors and basic WC amenities such as hand dryers, hooks, scent boxes. It is
essential to apply all toilet areas with standard features to help enhance usability and meet
common public toilet requirements. These features include mirrors above sinks for helping
users check their appearance, hand dryers for cleaning and drying hands quickly, hooks for
hanging personal items, and scent boxes for pleasant smell around the toilet. These stuff
play a key role as important as basic hygiene supplies such as hand soap and toilet paper.
They devote directly to enhancing user comfort and convinience, while also provide a user-
friendly environment where people are cared for thoughtfully.
Though there are a lot of suggestions proposed, some of them would be taken immediately but
others takes more time to be done. Therefore, we recommend that the first 3 suggestions should be
completed around 1 week due to their sinplicity and sudden positive outcomes on initial step of the
improvement. The last two actions can be done later but still need to be prepared and gradually
developed, we propose a timeframe of around three months to implement these two suggestions,
with four months as a maximum deadline. If you have any challenges while doing these steps such
as financial problems or authorization from higher-level executives, we can hold a meeting or make
another report to address these potential problems.
F. References
[1]: Hanoi University of Science and Technology. (2019, September 26). Cơ sở vật chất
Trường Đại học Bách khoa Hà Nội [Facilities of Hanoi University of Science and
Technology]. [Link]
[2]: [Link]. (2024, June 3). Thông tư 27/2011/TT-BYT Quy chuẩn kỹ thuật
quốc gia về nhà tiêu - Điều kiện bảo đảm hợp vệ sinh do Bộ trưởng Bộ Y tế ban hành.
THƯ VIỆN PHÁP LUẬT.
[Link]
[Link]?anchor=loai_1
[3]: Hanoi University of Science and Technology. (2024, May 25). Khánh thành tòa nhà
C7 dự án SAHEP, bước chuyển mình mạnh mẽ của Bách khoa Hà Nội. Đại Học
Bách Khoa Hà Nội. [Link]
nha-c7-du-an-sahep-buoc-chuyen-minh-manh-me-cua-bach-khoa-ha-noi-
[Link]
[4]: VnExpress. (2023, February 15). Nguy cơ mắc bệnh tiêu hóa từ nhà vệ sinh bẩn.
[Link]. [Link]
[Link]#:~:text=B%E1%BB%87nh%20t%E1%BA%A3%20th%C3%B4ng
%20th%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Dng%20l%C3%A2y,chu%E1%BB%99t%20r
%C3%BAt%20c%C6%A1%20b%E1%BA%AFp. . .
G. Appendix
- Link to the survey questions:
[Link]
LND3aNGsVGU56IA/viewform?
fbclid=IwY2xjawK12yBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHlolVW6NI2ibdmUNYLKXPwr-
gpSHKERx8dkmcc_2OEiK49lBVFD4dZjlMszt_aem_1tHX0DueUBjLXSRU-
Z7lsQ&fbzx=9219390916911022820
- Link to the survey outcomes (with charts):
[Link]
oU/edit?
fbclid=IwY2xjawK1U4VleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHnQ9_sYmII1suoNZ5IXsro5RtrjvMJUz
XNw8lVFKXHHSTaslOI87ai4Yi-Dj_aem_iO02AY6uqmPkJA1QH3hQqQ#responses
- Link to the detailed survey outcomes (with sheets):
[Link]
gTqDDBI/edit?usp=sharing
- Photos used in the report: