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The CDC provides the public with the tools and information they need to keep themselves and their communities safe and healthy. One way to accomplish this goal is through proper handwashing and the CDC has created handwashing guidelines to help people know exactly what to do to keep their hands clean.
While it can be as simple as washing your hands with soap and water, some industries need to take additional steps to ensure everyone’s hands are clean and sanitary.
Handwashing plays a significant role in keeping people safe and preventing the spread of illness. Here’s an example.
Despite our best efforts, germs often get onto our hands after using the toilet. If you don’t wash your hands, then touch a doorknob, a table, a handrail, a toy — just about anything — the germs spread from your hands to that surface, and the next person who touches that surface could pick up your germs.
Touching a contaminated surface isn’t enough to make someone sick, though. It’s what happens next: touching your face. By some estimates, we touch our face more than 50 times an hour, giving germs plenty of opportunity to infect us through our eyes, nose, and mouth.
Frequent handwashing plays an important role in keeping you healthy and helping others stay safe, too. So, when should you wash your hands? When they’re visibly dirty, of course, but also:
The CDC has a five-step process to ensure you wash your hands properly.
Wet your hands under clean running water. The water can be warm or cold. Why warm or cold water? Hot water may be too uncomfortable and could damage your skin if you have to wash your hands frequently.
After you wet your hands, turn the water off and apply soap. Turning the water off is critical for two reasons. First, it reduces water waste. Second, you shouldn’t rinse your hands in standing water as it can make them dirty again.
Rub your hands together and get a lather going. Make sure you include the back of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
Rub your hands together for at least 20 seconds. Don’t forget to rub the back of your hands and between your fingers. Humming (or singing) the “Happy Birthday” song twice is approximately 20 seconds.
Rinse your hands under clean, running water. You may need to rub them together a bit to ensure all the soap is removed.
Dry your hands thoroughly with disposable paper towels or a heated air dryer. It’s critical to get your hands as dry as possible. Wet hands pick up germs more quickly, and this way, you’re less likely to dry your hands on your pants!
Handwashing, or hand hygiene, plays a critical role in maintaining the health and welfare of patients and healthcare workers, particularly to ensure they don’t spread antibiotic-resistant germs.
In healthcare, the CDC defines hand hygiene as:
Staff should wash their hands:
Alcohol-based hand rubs are generally preferred over washing hands with soap and water because they’re:
However, the CDC says workers should wash their hands with soap and water when:
In addition to the standard hand washing steps, the CDC also recommends that healthcare workers add the following steps when washing their hands before surgery:
The CDC also has a few extra hand hygiene tips to keep hands safe:
Though hand hygiene plays a key role in keeping patients safe, employees may need to clean their hands 100 times a day, which makes it hard to keep their skin healthy. The CDC recommends that staff avoid using hot water and pat their hands dry (instead of rubbing) to keep their skin as healthy as possible. They can also use approved lotions and creams that won’t interfere with alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Maintaining hand hygiene in an emergency, like a natural disaster, helps stop the spread of illness. Washing hands in clean water is critical but not always easy to do in extraordinary situations.
When you have clean water, you should follow the basic handwashing steps. But when you don’t have clean water, you can boil or disinfect your water when local authorities say it’s OK to treat your water this way. In some situations, it’s not safe to use anything but bottled water or hand sanitizer.
If you don’t have clean water to wash your hands, you can use a hand sanitizer that’s at least 60% alcohol or use bottled water and soap.
Using soap and water to wash your hands is half of the equation. You need clean, potable water — preferably running water — and a way to dry your hands thoroughly. While you’ll have everything you need in most cases, some situations make it difficult to do a good job washing your hands. A natural disaster springs to mind, but what about at the county fair, farmer’s market, or a petting zoo?
That’s where a portable sink comes in. You can provide clean, safe running water, soap, and paper towels for everyone who needs to wash their hands for any reason, ensuring they get their hands clean and stop the spread of germs.
Ozark River Manufacturing’s portable sinks are the perfect solution for all kinds of situations and can help businesses comply with handwashing sink regulations, give staff and customers the handwashing station they need, and are perfect for:
Contact us today and learn how Ozark River Manufacturing’s portable sinks are the perfect solution for your business.
Ozark River Manufacturing designs and delivers top-quality, NSF-certified portable sinks. Since 2006, our inventive and bold team has ensured health compliance with quick-connect tanks and instant hot water. With over 55 models, we provide solutions for every need, backed by exceptional customer support and timely delivery. Healthy people matter, and we make a positive impact every day.
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