Encourage good hand hygiene

An outbreak of infection in your company isn’t just inconvenient, it has serious financial implications and can shut down your building. Protect your staff and your company by implementing a simple infection control plan and encouraging good hand hygiene

9 December 2010 

An office is the ideal environment for bacteria, germs and microbes. People often work in close proximity to each other in confined areas where bacteria and germs spread fast, and viruses can survive on your hands for several hours. Winter brings new and serious infections that make staff ill.

This is why it is so important to make sure you control infection in your office. You can reduce or even prevent staff absences by implementing the following simple steps.

1⁄ Be aware
Make it a priority to inform your staff about the importance of hand hygiene in reducing infection. 
Let them know when they should be cleaning their hands. It’s not just after using the bathroom. It should be every time they blow their nose, sneeze or cough, before and after eating and cooking, whenever hands are dirty, and before and after using shared equipment. Produce materials encouraging hand hygiene and offering advice to employees. It is also important to sustain the awareness of hand hygiene in your offices.

2⁄ Do a survey
Make sure your washrooms are well equipped, clean and hygienic. You can’t expect staff to maintain healthy hand hygiene habits if the facilities are not up to scratch. You can do an internal inspection or employ a hygiene company to do a professional review of your facilities. A survey and consultation will identify the most effective solutions for your washroom hygiene needs.

3⁄ Use dispeners
There is a broad range of soap dispensers available, including the ultimate in hygiene – automatic no-touch dispensers. Some have anti-microbial agents within the makeup of the soap dispenser itself. This prevents bacteria from living on its surface. Anti-bacterial soaps further aid infection control.

If you have soap dispensers that are easy to use and maintain, chances are your staff will be more likely to wash their hands.
Ask yourself the following questions when buying soap dispensers:
● Are the units easy to fill?
● Do they have a clear inspection window to check consumable levels?
● Do they have a non-drip nozzle to control consumption levels?

Ensuring that the consumable dose is the minimum required for effective hand washing prevents wastage.

3⁄ Wash well
Don’t just splash. Giving your hands a quick rinse is not enough.
Often people just apply a little soap and rinse. For effective hand hygiene it is important that the whole of your hands are thoroughly cleaned.
To kill off germs you need to wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap for at least 15 seconds. It’s not long but it can make a difference. Make sure your hands have been carefully washed to prevent the spread 
of infection. It really is as easy as that.
 
4⁄ Dry properly
Germs spread even faster when hands are wet or damp, so make sure employees dry their hands properly – something that is often overlooked.
According to Dr Ron Cutler, a leading UK microbiologist from Queen Mary University, London, “the act of drying your hands limits the spread of bacteria, as bacteria breed on wet hands.
 “We carried out some research in partnership with the Albany Healthy Schools programme, which identified that the longer you dried your hands, the fewer bacteria remained.”
When choosing a hand drying system for your facilities, make sure you get unbiased advice.

Ask yourself:
● What are my company’s priorities?
Hygiene is obviously important but you may also want to choose the most cost-effective solution, or consider the impact on your company’s carbon footprint. Also, how easy is the system to maintain? There’s a lot of choice, from cotton and paper towels to air dryers.
In the coming months an independent report will be published based on Dr Cutler’s research. The report examines each hand drying method offers an unbiased view on the advantages and disadvantages of each system.
  
5⁄ Sanitisers?
Hand sanitisers should not replace hand washing but rather act as an extra precaution to prevent infection. They are not a cleaning agent and will not remove dirt, but they do act quickly on contact with the hands, killing many different types of bacteria. In fact, hand sanitisers have been credited with reducing the number of illnesses in office environments.
Hand sanitisers should be at 
all entrances to the building 
and in all common areas. This will encourage both employees and visitors to use the hand sanitiser on entering and exiting the building.

6⁄ Keep it clean
The office is 
the perfect environment for microbes. 
To put it in perspective, the average work desk has 21,000 germs per square inch: a terrifying thought that highlights just how important it is to keep offices clean.

Offices have germ hotspots too. These need particular attention, and include: door handles, light switches, phones, keyboards, kettles and microwaves.


Mike Burton is managing director of Albany Hygiene Facilities