How often and when should I wash my hands?
Remember the ad? Wash your hands Jeffery, with the Solvol Jeffery.
How often and when should I wash my hands?
If you were Jeffery it was only when you were coming inside after a hard day playing in the garden, and when your mother told you.
The basics for good hand hygiene are:
- after going to the toilet
- after blowing your nose
- after smoking
- after handling/patting animals
- before, during & after preparing food
- when your hands are visibly dirty
But then there are industry specific times.
In Health Care Hand Hygiene Australia has developed a Five Moments of Washing Your Hands.
- Before touching a patient
- Before a procedure
- After the procedure or body fluid exposure risk
- After touching the patient
- After touching the patient’s surrounds
There are other times as well.
- Before and after squeezing pimples
- Before touching food or eating
- After going to the toilet
- After blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing
- Before and after touching a cut, wound or rash
- After handling the rubbish
- After playing in the dirt/garden/sandpit
- After work
- At the end of each recess/playtime/lunch break
- When you arrive home
- touching or preparing different types of food (e.g. chicken then vegetables; or fish then beef)
