Keeping Up with the Year-Around Cold & Flu Season

By: Briana Smith  |  May 1, 2014

Spring Fever, Summer Colds, Autumn Sniffles & Winter Chill

It always seems as if there’s something going around…colds, flu, allergies…regardless of the time of year. So shouldn’t everyone practice good hand hygiene year-around, and not just during the winter? After all, norovirus doesn’t go on a summer holiday.

The spread of germs happens daily as people consistently touch one surface or another. The rate at which germs are transmitted from one person to another may depend (airborne vs. direct contact) it’s important to protect yourself and others by doing the simplest of tasks: washing your hands.

Hand Hygiene – A Priority in Healthcare

Good hand hygiene affects everyone, but in some instances it can literally be the difference between life and death. In the Healthcare industry, the spread of bacteria & viruses can cause healthcare-acquired infections (HCAIs).

To spotlight this, the World Health Organization (WHO) is promoting May 5th as a day of awareness for their "SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands" campaign. This includes My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene, which is targeted towards Healthcare professionals in an effort to reduce HCAIs, as well as prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistant germs.

My 5 Moments campaign focuses on the five situations at which time Healthcare workers should remember to wash their hands:

1. Before touching a patient,
2. Before clean/aseptic procedures,
3. After body fluid exposure/risk,
4. After touching a patient, and
5. After touching patient surroundings.

The WHO has an abundance of tools & resources available on their website to encourage education & reminders.

Education – The Importance of Handwashing & Germ Transmission

The education of good hand hygiene and germ transmission isn’t limited to Healthcare. Teaching school-aged children, through to students in universities, can lead to lifelong handwashing habits. In fact, there are programs, such as Kimberly-Clark Professionals* The Healthy Schools Project*, which incorporate presentations, lesson guides, fun activities and more that teachers and other educators can utilize to reinforce healthy handwashing practices. An added benefit is that healthy students lead to reduced absenteeism and more time spent learning in the classroom. Plus, parents don’t have to use their sick time in order to take care of their kids!

The Healthy Schools Project* is designed around the HYGIENIFY!* wash, wipe, sanitize protocol, which reminds students of all the steps for proper handwashing. Germ “hot spots” transmission is discussed, as well as cross-contaminated surfaces (when someone who’s ill touches a common surface followed by someone else who is not ill). Common surfaces in a school environment include: door handles, computer equipment, desks, bathroom stall locks, etc.

Staying Healthy – At Work

Workplace Wellness is nothing to sneeze at either. Adults spend quite a chunk of their time at work, 40+ hours a week, which is more time spent than any other activity including sleeping. In December of 2012, a CleanLink reported about Cintas Corporation survey that found that 84% of employed Americans go to work sick. Now this is probably due to several factors: lack of sick time available, using up allotted sick time for sick kids, big projects that need to be done by a fixed deadline, etc.

(Click on image to view entire ISSA INFOGRAPHIC on the Value of Clean)

Meanwhile, everyone else around a sick coworker is hoping not to catch a possible illness, yet it can be difficult when everyone is touching the same door handles, break room surfaces, etc. Once again, the best protection from catching a cold is thorough handwashing with soap and water, or a hand santanizer if soap & water is not readily available. Additionally, regular cleaning and sanitizing commonly touched surfaces should be completed frequently, not to mention personal desks or working areas.

Illness at work can cost a business thousands of dollars of year. You can figure out how much absenteeism due to illness costs your business by using the Office Absenteeism Calculator.

Recently the ISSA (International Sanitary Supply Association) has published an INFOGRAPHIC and an accompanying video on the Value of Clean.

Stands to reason that being healthy at work is of upmost importance!

 
Briana Smith is WAXIE’s Social Media & Product Branding Specialist and spends quite a bit of time skimming the news for what’s new in cleaning, sustainability and technology while managing all of WAXIE’s social channels. She especially loves posting about #teamwaxie activities & conversing with customers on Instagram. Briana has a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Design from California State University, Chico.

READ MORE:
12th Annual National Healthy Schools Day: April 8th
Follow These Flu Prevention Tips
Minimizing Cross-Contamination While Cleaning
Preventing HAIs: Healthy Measures Program & Cleaning Soft Surfaces
The Bottom-Line Benefits of Hand Hygiene in the Workplace