Hand washing with soap and water has been considered good hygiene for centuries; the understanding of its capacity to reduce the transmission of pathogens has evolved with research.

It’s now unequivocal that contaminated hands are the most common route of microbial transmission that cause infection. Therefore, hand hygiene is the most effective measure to prevent cross-contamination.

Hand hygiene can be performed either by rubbing with an alcohol-based formulation, or by washing with soap and water. In high-risk environments hand hygiene may additionally include washing with chlorhexidine, iodine, and iodophors.

Some common things which reduce the efficacy of hand hygiene practice include:

>Frequent contact with contaminated surfaces

>Frequent touching of face and head

>Fingers with artificial nails are more likely to harbour Gram-negative bacilli

>Rings, especially ones with voluminous surfaces – higher microbial colonisation under rings

>Inadequate hand hygiene – not washing often enough

>Inadequate hand hygiene – poor technique

>Inadequate hand hygiene – lack of wash stations/equipment/supplies

Microbial Control

Aside from SARS-CoV-2, hand hygiene is proven to reduce the microbial burden of gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, enveloped viruses, non-enveloped viruses, mycobacteria, and fungi on high-touch surfaces.

Given the growth of multidrug-resistant organisms and the national antimicrobial stewardship program, it is vitally important that hand hygiene be done effectively, lest we see reservoir development and endemic presence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), Linezolid-resistant enterococci (LRE), Linezolid-resistant Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (LRVRE), Multi-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (MRGN), Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) and Candida auris.

Service offerings

OHS law in Australia dictates that employers and/or persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), must make sure that the workplace is safe and that anyone working in or visiting the workplace is not exposed to hazards or harmed. Sanifield provides bespoke advisory on the development of effective governance and management systems on infection prevention and control:

>Hand hygiene training

>Skin care assessment & guidance

>Hand hygiene audits

>Support to design hand hygiene procedures

>Support to implement hand hygiene procedures

>Facility and operational workflow inspections for hand washing stations

When it comes to hand hygiene, auditing and counting in and of itself will not change behaviour but understanding the who, what, when, where, why and how of the hand hygiene behaviour is something that can potentially be manipulated to bring about an improvement in hand hygiene.