Hand Hygiene

Deanne York Douglas

Last updated April 14, 2025 10:17pm

The steps we use to maintain good hand hygiene practices

Overview

Hand hygiene is the single most important factor in reducing the spread of infections and must be performed at the right moments. It can be performed by washing hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand rub.

The five moments for hand hygiene:

before touching a person or their surroundings
before a procedure or where there is a risk of being exposed to body fluids
after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk
after touching a person
after touching a person's surroundings (e.g. bed, linen, surfaces).

5 Moments of Hand Hygiene 157 KB View full-size Download

Ten moments for hand hygiene in the home

As home care providers, there are ten other moments when hand hygiene must be practised.

before you begin work and after you have completed your shift
before and after wearing gloves
after handling raw foods and before handling cooked foods
after handling money
after handling garbage or garbage containers
after covering your nose or mouth to sneeze or cough, or blow your nose
after handling unwashed laundry
after touching or scratching your head or other parts of your body
after you have had your meal or a cigarette or been to the bathroom
after handling pets and their belongings

Remember to cover any broken skin with a waterproof dressing.

Alcohol-based Hand Rub - ABHR
Alcohol-based hand rub is the gold standard of care for hand hygiene practice. Alcohol-based hand rubs have excellent antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative vegetative bacteria and good antimicrobial activity against enveloped viruses. Alcohol solutions containing 60-80% alcohol are the most effective. It has been well established that alcohols effectively reduce bacterial counts on hands better than soap and water.
Alcohol-based hand rub is also the recommended product for preventing intravascular catheter-related infections.

Alcohol-based hand rubs should be used (when hands are visibly clean) instead of handwashing because they:

Substantially reduce bacterial count on hands
Require less time than handwashing
Are more accessible
Are self-drying
They are gentler on the skin and cause less skin irritation and dryness than frequent soap and water washes since all hand rubs contain skin emollients (moisturisers).

Hand washing should be reserved for situations when hands are visibly soiled.