Studies have found that well implemented, and stringently followed, hand hygiene practices should be the cornerstone of any effective infection prevention program. In this particular study, published by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found that “a comprehensive, targeted, yet simple to execute hand hygiene program” “significantly reduced” hygiene-preventable health care incidents.
In March this year, at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK, we shared our best practice advice for reducing your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, and much of our advice centred on hand hygiene.
Clean your hands regularly with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub: Our advice is to carry an alcohol-based hand rub with you, or in your car, at all times and have one on your desk if you are office-based. Using an alcohol-based hand rub or washing your hands with soap and water effectively will kill any viruses on your hands. For further advice on hand hygiene, click here for the NHS guide to hand cleaning techniques.
Refrain from touching your eyes, nose and mouth: Unless you have skin abrasions or open wounds, a virus is unlikely to enter your body through your hands. However, if you then touch your mouth, nose or eyes with contaminated hands, you give the virus a much greater opportunity to enter your body and make you ill.
Our Health & Safety Officer, Chris Brown (TechIOSH), wrote, “It is really important to follow this advice, especially when meeting people outside of your usual environment, to stop the spread of diseases.”
We all have a personal responsibility to do our bit to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by practice good hand hygiene. However, as businesses, we have an additional responsibility to make it easy for our customers to stay safe and sanitised while on your premises. Alcohol-based sanitisers are known to be an effective method of rapidly reducing a broad spectrum of bacterial and viral counts on the hands of your staff and customers, helping to reduce the transmission of pathogens and infections. This sentiment is summarised by The Institute for Healthcare Improvement: “Alcohol-based hand rubs (liquids, gels, or foams) are the preferred method for hand hygiene in most settings due to the superior efficacy of these agents in rapidly reducing bacteria counts on hands and their ease of use.”
Find out more about creating a clean and safe work environment
Atkins Gregory works with brilliant janitorial supply partners to deliver an extensive range of janitorial, washroom and hygiene supplies, including the provision of hand sanitiser and sanitising stations.
This article is syndicated from parent company Monthind Clean – find the original article here
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