Good Infection Control and Personal Hygiene at Work: Same as it Has Always Been

This article was created by Peter Phillips. who is an ex-Environmental Health Officer who is an expert in Food Safety, Occupational Health, Enforcement protocols, best practice, etc. – the list is long and worthy!

It is perhaps, time for us all to re-examine the basics of good personal and workplace hygiene. Good infection control and personal hygiene are the same all of the time and do not change much with every new infection that comes along. They do, however, get highlighted.

Here are a few basic tips to keep us reasonably healthy.

• Hand washing. It is a well-established fact, that even where soap is not available in primitive environments, simply washing hands in clean water substantially reduces the transmission of disease.  When we add soap to the equation, significantly more particles, both physical and micro-biological, are lifted off the skin and carried away by the water.  Soap can also have a detrimental effect on some microorganisms’ ability to attach and to defend themselves.  Two important factors for the success of this method of infection control are the education and self-discipline of the individuals and the provision of adequate facilities.  The self-discipline can be reinforced by education and training, posters and peer pressure.  Hand washing should be frequent and especially after using the toilet, after handling raw foods, after coughing or sneezing, after touching the nose or mouth, whenever the hands become dirty and before handling ready to eat food.  Facilities should include adequate hand washbasins with suitable and sufficient water supply.  Ideally, hand washing taps should be of a non-touch type.  Soap should be of a liquid type, as bar soap can become contaminated.  Hand drying facilities should be of a type that does not cause cross-contamination, such as disposable paper towels.

• Hand sanitisers. Hand sanitisers and bactericidal soaps have their uses but should be used with caution.  In most cases, the aim of hand cleaning is simply to remove significant contamination, not to disinfect the skin.  Constant disinfection of the skin will interfere with the skin’s natural micro-biological inhabitants which are mostly harmless and often form part of the body’s defence against pathogenic organisms.  Hand sanitisers might be appropriate where we are caring for or visiting vulnerable people, but it is not a replacement for good hand washing.
• Cleaning and disinfection. Good cleaning to all areas takes away materials that might harbour harmful microorganisms or pests that might act as disease vectors.  Workplaces should be cleaned in accordance with formal cleaning schedules, and all staff should adopt ‘clean as you go’ principles.  It should be made absolutely clear, by management and by peer pressure, that it is unacceptable to leave facilities such as kitchen areas, toilets and wash areas dirty.  Disinfection should be used on any body contact and food contact surfaces.  Other surfaces simply need to be cleaned, as overuse of disinfection in inappropriate areas may cause the development of resistant strains of pathogenic organisms.  Remember that body contact surfaces include things like door handles, switches, telephones and keypads.  Ensure that electrical switches are only cleaned in an electrically safe manner.
• Personal hygiene. Apart from hand washing, other good hygiene practices should be encouraged.  It should be made clear that all staff are expected to bathe or shower every day.  Deodorant is not a replacement for washing.  Coughing and sneezing should be into a disposable tissue, and the tissues should be disposed of hygienically, preferably by flushing them away.  Where a cough or sneeze takes us by surprise and we can’t get to a tissue, then coughing or sneezing into the inside of your elbow will help limit infection spread (and no, this is not an excuse for wiping your nose on your sleeve).
• Exclusion from work and isolation. When ill with anything that might be contagious, even if it is just a cold, staff should not come into the workplace and risk spreading illness to others.  It is generally a good idea to minimise contact with anyone at such times.
• Face coverings. Paper or cloth masks have little or no effect in protecting the wearer from microbial infection.  They do have some function in stopping the wearer infecting others, which is why they are worn by surgeons.  They don’t really have a useful function in day to day life unless you are attending a ball.
• Social distancing. Long after the lockdown is assigned to the history of strange anomalies, the distance by time and space, together with ventilation will still have its place in disease control.  Overcrowding, both in homes and workplaces, allows the rapid spread of infection as well as increasing detrimental mental health effects.  Workplaces should allow for plenty of space for the work activity required with a plentiful supply of fresh air.  Air conditioning systems that recirculate the same air should be avoided.  Where space is limited, consideration should be given to staggering work shifts and breaks and allowing people to work from home.  Staff should be allowed adequate work breaks with access to fresh air and sunlight.

The above is not an exhaustive list of hygiene rules, and they won’t make anyone live forever, but they will go a long way to keeping the workplace healthy and pleasant.

Good hygiene, which is part of good infection control, is for life, not just for a crisis.