Hand Washing – Infection Control 101

In a care environment, hand hygiene is the single most important intervention for breaking the chain of infection. Research shows that proper hand hygiene can reduce the transmission of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) by up to 50%.

Continuing to promote the message of washing hands with soap & water is a key factor to keeping infections at bay all year round, protecting both staff and vulnerable residents and patients.

Effective Hand Hygiene

To maintain a high-standard of hand hygiene and infection control within care facilities, it’s important to follow the below essentials:

• Five Moments for Hand Hygiene.

These five moments describe the key times care providers should be washing their hands when caring for a patient or resident. View our resource here. 

• How to wash your hands

Hand washing isn’t just about how often you clean, it’s also about the correct hand washing technique to ensure no bacteria is left behind. Our resource covers exactly how staff should be trained to wash their hands. 

• Bare below the elbows

Staff should follow the ‘bare below the elbows’ rule to ensure that hands and forearms can be cleaned effectively and bacteria is unable to harbour on sleeves or watch straps. The bare below the elbow rule means short sleeves, no wrist watches and jewellery (other than one plain wedding band. 

• Dedicated facilities

Dedicated hand washing facilities should be supplied throughout healthcare facitlties including within the sluice room. Essential hand-washing facilities are described in the next section.

Essential Hand Washing Facilities 

Having a hand-wash basin in your sluice room is critical for the room to be considered compliant. 

If your hand washing facilities need updating in your Sluice Room or any other areas of your healthcare facility, then please visit our website for a range of products, including:  

• Stainless steel hand-wash basins 
• Taps 
• Liquid Soap and dispensers
• Hand towels and dispensers

If your home would benefit from additional support of Stanbridge, reviewing your infection prevention and control measures, then please contact us now to arrange a free site survey visit, with no obligation.