Hand Hygiene
We all know how important it is to wash your hands. It keeps the germs at bay and our workplaces healthy, especially in those winter months. However, research shows most of us don’t practice hand hygiene well enough to stop the spread of bacteria and viruses.
By washing your hands well, you can play an important role in protecting those around you from those germs. Think about – not just your colleagues and the visitors to your workplace, but your family and their families, and how practising ecohygiene is good for everyone.
Practicing good hygiene is in your hands, and it is good for everyone.
Hygiene and safety go hand-in-hand. Covid-19 pandemic demanded a change in behaviour of people everywhere. Offices and workplaces have had to provide the right hand hygiene products in toilets, kitchens, common areas such as reception, elevators, lobbies and food preparation areas to encourage employees to continuously wash hands and sanitise and practice good hand hygiene practices.
“Employees are more aware of germ hotspots but not all of them are aware that contaminated hands can directly transfer viruses to up to 5 more surfaces and 14 more subjects.”
Hand hygiene prevents cross contamination.
Hand hygiene is essential for the prevention of infections, in fact, there is evidence that approximately 30% of healthcare-associated infections can be prevented with good hand hygiene.
Hand hygiene is the most critical advice delivered by WHO during the COVID-19 pandemic. All through the day in an offices and workplaces, hands that touch contaminated surfaces can transmit germs to other surfaces or directly to colleagues.
“Employees feel it’s important that employers prioritise creating safe and hygienic.”
Ensure employees practice good hand hygiene.
Washing hands regularly and thoroughly helps to reduce and remove potentially harmful bacteria and viruses. Our research shows that fingertips and thumbs often get missed during hand washing, so here’s a handy guide to effective hand hygiene.
Sanitise
Rub hands palm to palm
Fingers interlaced, rub palm to palm and then right palm to back of left hand and vice versa
Cusp back of fingers into opposing palm and rub side to side
Clasp right hand around left thumb and rub thumb in rotational manner and vice versa
Rotational rubbing, backwards and forwards by placing fingertips of right hand in left palm and vice versa
Once dry, the sanitisation process is complete
Duration of the entire procedure is about 20-30 sec
Ensure employees practice good hand hygiene.
Place reminders in the form of simple posters, near taps, kitchen sinks and wash basins that encourage staff to wash, dry and sanitise their hands. Advice staff not to take smartphones inside the toilets. Phones and note pads taken into the toilets are likely to end up with germs on them. When they pick up their phone after washing their hands are immediately undoing their good hand hygiene regime and could be placing themselves and their colleagues needlessly at risk.
Invest in high quality hand hygiene solutions
Consider installing automatic no-touch soap dispensers and sanitisers, too, which help to promote hand hygiene by eliminating the need for contact and – subsequently – the spread of germs. No-touch paper towel dispensers for hand-drying also lower the risk of recontamination by reducing the amount of moisture and microorganisms left on the hands after washing. If budgets are limited, consider manual soap dispensers, manual hand sanitiser dispensers and hand dryers.
Provide your staff with hand sanitiser
It’s important to place hand sanitisers place in and around the office areas such as toilets, entrances and exits, desks, kitchens and other high traffic areas. These will combat cross contamination in a workplace. Hand sanitisers will not only stop the spread of germs but will also help to improve the image of your business.
Hygiene in workplaces to increase productivity.
Research also demonstrates that Australians spend on average 6.8 hours at work.
Considering that just on a normal office day, a workers’ hands cross contact with more than 10 million bacteria, good hand hygiene is the only way to fight the rapid transmission that can save employees from common seasonal cold, influenza, food bacteria, and Covid19.
Work days saved from sickness, absenteeism related to fear of illness can be countered with the provision of good hygiene solutions especially hand hygiene solutions in workplaces.
Employees are more fearful of lack of hand hygiene practices by others.
Think about how many times you share spaces with colleagues, maybe in the kitchen. According to official reports, only half of the people that are claiming to wash their hands are telling the truth. After using the toilet, your hand has a bacterial count of 200million per square inch.
Meeting employees hand hygiene expectations can be a strategy to get people back in the office and help reduce the concern that most of the employees have about other peoples’ poor hand hygiene behaviour. A well-equipped and hygienic office can create more confidence and reduce that fear.
Providing hand hygiene solutions is the best way to take care of your employees.
Majority of the employees rely on the employers to keep the workplace environment safe.
Based on a recent survey, after the pandemic, employees have become more aware of the risk that poor hygiene especially in the workplace. More acute awareness of how easily hands can transmit germs made employees feel less safe at work and brought them to demand more when it comes to hygiene in the offices.
While employees are more likely to avoid touching hot spot surfaces like door handle, stair rails, washroom taps, toilet flush buttons and office equipment is also difficult to actualise.
This places a responsibility on employers to provide good hygiene solutions.
Hand Hygiene Solutions
Autosoap – Automatic soap dispenser
Manual soap dispenser and Manual hand sanitiser
Auto towel dispenser
With ecohygiene soap dispensers, hand sanitisers and hand dryers, you can be sure the germs at your workplace will be stopped in their tracks.
Learn more about our services
We offer a range of hygienic services for your workplace bathrooms designed to suit you and your team’s needs. When it comes to bathrooms, we’ve got you covered with solutions for:
Feminine hygiene sanitary bins
Bathroom hygiene, including urinal care and toilet seat sanitisers
Air hygiene dispensers and fragrances
18 Garden Blvd, Dingley Village,
Victoria, 3172
T: 1800 849 122
E: enquiries@eco-hygiene.com.au
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