Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Microbiological Hazards
Published in Dag K. Brune, Christer Edling, Occupational Hazards in the Health Professions, 2020
Prompt removal of contaminating microroganisms from the hands is therefore important for the protection of both health care workers and their patients, and handwashing is the single most important procedure for the prevention of nosocomial infections.12 However, more than a century after Semmelweis the practice of handwashing among health professionals is far from optimal. Several studies have shown inferior quality, frequency, and timing of handwashing.15–22 Taylor found that 89% of 129 ward staff missed some part of the hand surface during handwashing. She also reported that only 38% of dirty nursing procedures was followed by handwashing.15,16 Several studies, including different categories of health professionals from different countries, have shown handwashing frequencies between 7 and 55% after dirty procedures.18–22 Obviously, there is much to improve with regard to this seemingly simple protective procedure.
Recreational Environment and Swimming Areas
Published in Herman Koren, Best Practices for Environmental Health, 2017
Proper hand washing techniques using soap and water are the most effective means of preventing and controlling outbreaks of disease on cruise ships. Hands should be washed thoroughly after using the bathroom, changing diapers, before eating, preparing or handling food, and at any time before putting hands to the mouth. The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers on the hands is effective after the soil or potential soil has been removed from the hands and is secondary to thorough hand washing in these situations.
Biohazard
Published in Ronald Scott, of Industrial Hygiene, 2018
A worker can contract a virus infection through the eyes, mouth, any other body opening, or a cut in the skin. Having skin contact with contaminated materials, then touching any of these vulnerable areas is another route of exposure. Hand washing after handling potentially contaminated materials is therefore very important.
Area-level deprivation and handwashing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multilevel analysis on a nationwide survey in Korea
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2023
Woorim Kim, Kyujin Chang, Soon Young Lee, Yeong Jun Ju
Handwashing, in particular handwashing with soap, is an effective measure to prevent infectious diseases as it can decrease the risk of respiratory infections by around 20% (Rabie and Curtis 2006; Aiello et al. 2008; White et al. 2020). The potential benefits of handwashing are well known, with studies showing that over 90% of the general population perceived handwashing as an effective measure against respiratory diseases, including SARS and H1N1 influenza (Lau et al. 2003; Park et al. 2010). The importance of handwashing has also been continuously reinforced during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been widely promoted in public health messages (Alzyood et al. 2020). Previous studies have shown that a trend towards frequent handwashing has been found in recent years, in which the likelihood of handwashing was noticeably higher during the COVID-19 outbreak (Jang et al. 2022).
How secured and safe is the sanitation and hygiene services in a maximum-security correctional facility in Southwest Nigeria: a descriptive cross-sectional study
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2022
Olufemi O. Aluko, Oluwaseun T. Esan, Umar A. Agboola, A.A Ajibade, O. M. John, O. D. Obadina, Olusegun T. Afolabi
The options picked for the handwashing practice by respondents were recoded into a binary outcome, ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ sequences. Correct handwashing sequence was defined by the process of wetting hands, followed by applying soap (or soap derivatives), washing the hand furrows, rinsing with safe water, followed by air drying or the use of a personal towel, with the process lasting for at least 20 seconds. Similarly, the toilet cleaning practice was recoded into a binary outcome; ‘once-daily’ and ‘others’. Overcrowding as a variable was based on square meter available to each prisoner, in the absence of a composite measurement index (Simpson et al. 2019). In free and solitary cells, the minimum recommended space are respectively 3.4 m2/person and 5.4 m2/person (ICRC 2017) and applied in this study.
A case study of food handler hand hygiene compliance in high-care and high-risk food manufacturing environments using covert-observation
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2022
Ellen W. Evans, Emma J. Samuel, Elizabeth C. Redmond
Handwashing with water and soap has been found to be more effective than using a sanitiser alone (Charbonneau et al. 2000), however, given that alcohol-based products achieve rapid and effective inactivation of various bacteria (Foddai et al. 2016); when combined with handwashing, the use of sanitiser significantly enhances the hygiene process (Michaels et al. 2003), consequently, the addition of a sanitiser to a hand washing regimen results in a greater reduction of microorganisms (Edmonds et al. 2012). There is a lack of data detailing the awareness, attitudes, self-reported use or observed utilisation of hand sanitiser among food handlers in food manufacturing research to allow comparison. In this study, 24% (high-risk) and 35% (high-care) of food handlers failed to apply sanitiser after completing hand washing and drying, prior to entering the production areas. This is in comparison to 63.2% of attempts by food handlers who failed to include the use of sanitiser prior to entering production areas (Evans and Redmond 2018).