Handwashing becomes the backstop for the surface contamination in nursing homes Dr. Kelly Reynolds, University of Arizona researcher, shares her experience in long-term care where the homelike environment challenges staff to keep pace with surface cleanliness standards. She finds that busy C-Suite decision-makers appreciate converting complicated research studies into pictures. The referenced nursing home research […]
The Engaged Hand Washer: Patient Protector #1
APIC 2019 Handwashing Preview Handwashing remains a process basically out of control in healthcare. There are no clear standards, thus no variance reports and no objective data to reward success or discipline nonperformance. Unwashed hands endanger brands and are a major contributing factor to the 479,000 annual deaths attributed to infections acquired in hospitals and […]
The Engaged Handwasher: Brand Protector #1
Chicago’s recent Food Safety Summit was the latest venue for brand-protecting professionals to gather and assess new technologies. Educational sessions frequently put handwashing under the collaborative microscope and at the top of the list of potential outbreak-reducing actions, following HACCP’s advice to take on the biggest risk first. Similarly, hand hygiene discussions rippled through the […]
Self-Compliant Handwashing Answers the Skeptics of Electronic Monitoring
The Magic is Employee Engagement Originally published May 5, 2019 on Food Safety News. The top 100 restaurant chains have good trainers but they almost all fail to change handwashing behavior in a sustainable way. That has been, is and thought by many to be its likely future. If good trainers can’t do it, there […]
Data >> Recognition >> Handwash Compliance
What matters gets rewarded and repeated. Recognition is a powerful motivator in foodservice. It is emerging as one of the strongest arguments to invest in Electronic Hand Wash Monitoring technology. EHWM serves up real-time data which engages workers and sets up a playing field where their avid policy compliance wins and can be rewarded in […]
The 2018 Norovirus Restaurant Report Card
Symptom vs. Source According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), norovirus continues to be responsible for over 50 percent of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. In recent years, a majority of foodborne norovirus outbreaks occurred in restaurants, often related to an infected employee practicing poor handwashing and subsequently handling food. There is […]
Pairing Electronic Faucets with E-Monitoring Handwash Systems
Synergies pay off between water & new process control technologies Water is obviously a key element of a good handwash, especially in the era of controlling the spread of C. diff. As in most everything else, some manufacturers have invested more than others, in this case to serve up the wash-ready water with utmost speed, […]
Handwashing Data Does Drive Down HAI Rates
Don’t let research-reading-fatigue blur this game-changer It is commonly accepted that increased hand hygiene compliance can reduce HAI rates. There is an abundance of evidence that electronic monitoring of hand hygiene does increase compliance but this study goes that important step into new territory. “An automated hand hygiene compliance system is associated with decreased rates […]
The Why Of Healthcare’s Unwashed Hands
Would the Owner of the Problem Please Step Forward APIC 2018 provided the venue to check in with caregivers as to why handwashing compliance numbers continue to fall short of a safe level. (The research was sponsored by Chicago Faucets, creators of the best-in-class HyTronic™ faucet with its integrated hand-held data gathering device, Commander™.) The overarching objective […]
Owning the New Joint Commission Standard for Handwashing
The Joint Commission’s new zero-tolerance standard for handwashing is proving to be the end of the line for many facilities who have long accepted the flawed compliance standard perpetuated by the misinformation of observation-only monitoring. This dramatic change calls on the “owner” of the handwashing accountability to step forward. “Who is it?” is the focal […]
