Good Hygiene
Why is hand hygiene important?
It is the most effective way of preventing the spread of infection and communicable diseases.
How do you keep your hands from drying out?
Use a mild lotion frequently and liberally.
Use warm water instead of hot.
Protect your hands from the cold weather.
What surfaces do bacteria live on?
High touch spots, door handles, light switches, skin, cell phones... etc.
Best handwashing technique
For 15-30 seconds, with lots of soap to lather. Using warm water.
Rubbing between your fingers, under your nails, backs and fronts of hands, around your wrists.
Dry your hands with a clean towel or air dryer.
Warm water or cold water?
Use what you prefer.
The water temperature does not kill germs, it just helps create a lather from the soap that removes germs from skin after rinsing.
Hot water can dry out your hands
Who are you protecting?
Yourself
Friends
Family
Staff
Hand-hygiene method that dries out skin
What is, soap and water
How does bacteria enter your body?
Touching your eyes, nose or mouth, or through broken skin.
When to wash hands?
- When hands are visibly dirty or feel dirty
- When contaminated with blood or other bodily fluids
- Before or after handling food
- After restroom use
- If you touch a wound
- After sneezing, blowing your nose, or coughing.
Bar or liquid soap?
Both work well to remove germs.
Get a good amount and lather going.
Short-term benefits of not getting sick
You can maintain energy for a good social life
You can show up for work
You can get better sleep
Hand sanitizer in your eye
Can damage surface of eyes
Rinse eyes under running water (shower/sink) for 15-20 minutes immediately
How does handwashing with soap and water remove germs?
A good soap lather traps and removes germs, harmful chemicals, and dirt from your hands.
The scrubbing of your hands physically destroys germs, and when you rinse your hands, you wash the germs and debris down the drain.
When to use hand sanitizer?
When your hands aren't visibly dirty
When soap/water is not available
Paper towel or air dryer?
Both ways are effective.
Germs spread more easily when hands are wet, so dry them completely with what ever you choose.
Long-term benefits of not getting sick
Your immune system is better prepared to fight infections
HARMS Drinking alcohol-based hand sanitizer
Ethanol (in hand sanitizer) if swallowed can lower blood sugar. In extreme, untreated situations, it can cause seizures, or slow the heart rate and breathing, possibly leading to coma.
It irritates the stomach, causing nausea or vomiting.
Too much methanol can cause permanent blindness and death due to severe changes in the body that happen as methanol is broken down.
Benzene (in some hand sanitizers) has been known to cause leukemia.
What sickness can you prevent?
diarrhea caused by salmonella, E.coli, norovirus
respiratory infection from common colds, influenza, adenovirus, hand-foot-mouth disease
severe sickness can lead to pneumonia
How much hand sanitizer?
Apply a quarter-sized amount (1-2 pumps)
Enough to cover all areas of your hands
Hand sanitizer or handwashing?
1) Soap and water
2) Hand sanitizer
If soap and water not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
What can increase the amount of bacteria hiding on your hands?
Having jewelry on when you wash your hands
Having artificial nails (longer than 3-4mm)
Having chipped nail polish
Drying hands on a shared hand towel
Using a damp cloth or sponge to clean hands (germs love moist surfaces)
What can prevent hand sanitizer from working?
Not using enough to cover all of your hands
Wiping it off before it has dried
When hands are slightly dirty
Do you have to be sick to spread germs?
No, you can spread microbes without having any symptoms of illness
Importance of rubbing in hand sanitizer?
The microbes are under the top layer of your skin. Rubbing helps the sanitizer access the microbes.
Antibacterial soap or plain soap?
Use plain soap to wash your hands.
There is no added health benefit from using antibacterial soap
They are no better at preventing people from getting sick and their ingredients may not be safe for long-term daily use, and may contribute to antibiotic resistance.