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HandwashingforLife® Special Event

Dining Safety Alliance (DSA) Webinar

“Safe Dining Expectations
in the Era of COVID-19”

November 19, 2020, at 11:00 AM EST

What Is Your Norovirus Handwashing Risk-Rate?

Imagine this question being asked by your liability insurer or restaurant owner.

There is an unofficial internal team that can best answer the question posed in this headline. Handwashing For Life® recommends a one-time assembly of multi-department risk assessors to weigh in on current handwashing frequency. Supporting research will soon be published, and you will be ready to fully apply the learning to your operation. What is your standard for handwashing frequency, expressed in Hand Washes per Employee Hour, HW/EH? What is your agreed Wash Index Number standard, the W.I.N.?

Poster image asking the question "What is your norovirus risk-rate?" with a W.I.N. of one hand wash per employee hour.

This about to be published study seeks to help operators quantify Norovirus risk reduction in terms of Hand Washes per Employee Hour, HW/EH. A preliminary result indicates a 70% risk reduction with 1 HW/EH. https://handwashingforlife.org/journal/new-handwashing-for-life-risk-study-explores-norovirus-handwashing-frequency/ Some operators prefer 2 or even 3 HW/EH, to better align with the owner's risk tolerance.

This downloadable collaboration curve (https://handwashingforlife.org/5-step-process/2-set-safe-level/) helps the ad hoc risk team take the collective pulse of today's handwashing from differing brand protection perspectives: Food Safety, Quality Assurance, Training, Risk Management, and Operations.

Each member, reflecting on their accountability in protecting the brand and balancing this with what they see and hear every day, marks the curve indicating where they wish to be and where they are likely to be now. This approximation and suggested actions capture valuable insights and set the stage for enduring solutions. https://handwashingforlife.org/5-step-process/1-assess-risk/

There are two new technologies available to inexpensively measure and monitor today's handwashing frequency. Both can be used for permanent hand wash tracking or as a one-time internal research tool to identify potential gaps. Both use team reporting, avoiding the privacy issues that arise when reporting is done at the individual level.

The first is a Clorox-Purell Bluetooth®-equipped soap dispenser, the ES-10. It simply gathers the kitchen's total Hand Washes for the week and divides that by total Employee Hours, HW/EH. https://www.gojo.com/en/Product-Catalog/Dispenser/ES10

The second is a service solution that works on both manual and electronic soap dispensers. This cloud-delivered solution, the HigenX, W.I.N. (Wash Index Number) system, is available from Ireland-based

Higenx® https://higenx.com
Contact: mike@higenx.com for details.
Mike requires a sample of your soap dispenser to ensure reliability.

A third technology option is being proven as part of another 2026 research study: Self-Motivated Handwashing.