Posted By Adie Hi, I know this is a slightly strange one and may not really be health and safety; however, within my work environment there are a number of staff that believe that hands are self cleaning and they do not need to use soap and water after the toilet. Several members of the workforce have approached the HR team and I to "mention" the matter. In conjunction with the HR department I aim to run a blanket campaign relating to personal hygiene in the workplace which will involve posters, leaflets and if necessary presentations. This will NOT target individuals but be a way of raising peoples awareness to cleanliness and communicable illnesses. To that end, I would greatly appreciate any advice and guidance that may be offered, or pointers to places where I may find relevant information that would assist me. Many thanks in advance.

Posted By Aileen Hi Adie The "not washing of hands" is most definitely a health & safety issue. I think your idea of a blanket campaign is a good one and I agree that posters on the back of toilet doors etc could help. However, changing the attitudes of those who don't think it's necessary to wash their hands will be your biggest challenge. The message given in our NHS area is "Hand washing is the single most effective method of reducing the spread of infection". I have sent a request for sources of information on leaflets, statistics, etc to the Infection Control Nurse in my local PCT and will get back to you when I hear more. You could try contacting your local Infection Control or, indeed, Public Health team or log onto the Infection Control Nurses' Association website who I'm sure could help. Good luck! Aileen

Posted By David Bannister My experience of seeing very many different workplace toilet/wash facilities tells me that whilst some are clean, hygienic, pleasant and user-friendly, others are probably best thought of as 19th Century relics (some really are). Too often the places are wet and smelly, dirty and repulsive. Hardly surprising that some will not want to stay longer than nature dictates. Company claims that staff are their greatest asset are not always backed up by the provision of clean welfare facilities. I can recall my first job (school hols) in a warehouse where the employee toilet was gross most of the time whilst the staff toilet was key-access only. Even some customer toilets are in the dreadful category - what message does this present of the company? Adie, I have no knowledge of the condition of your toilets but this may be a factor in your drive for better hygiene.

Posted By Chris G Try this as part of awarness training. Take 1 stadndard black ink pad (the type used for library stamps) Place sheet of loo roll across inked surface & invite volunteers to lightly press their fingers on the "clean" side of the paper. They normally get the idea pretty quickly. Chris G.