Hand hygiene protocol

Protocol Covid

This page describes protocol , or, how to do things with QueerCare. You should check how to read protocol well if you're new to QueerCare.

Note regarding COVID : This page is not specifically relating to the COVID-19 pandemic pandemic, but includes information that will be useful for dealing with the pandemic.

Hand hygiene refers to the process of making sure that your hands are not transmitting infection from one person to another, or from one person to vulnerable areas of yourself (your eyes, mouth, nose and broadly your face).

When to do hand hygiene

You should do hand hygiene as often as possible, but while doing care work you must do it:

Before touching your face
- to prevent infection spreading from your surroundings onto your face.
After touching your face
- to prevent infection spreading from your potentially infected face to your surroundings.
Before touching something that is disinfected
- to prevent spreading infection to something that is disinfected.
Before being in close contact (within 2m) with someone you suspect, or know, has COVID-19
- because maybe they don’t have it, or you may have some other infection on your hands which could make their COVID much worse.
After being in close contact (within 2m) with someone you suspect, or know, has COVID-19
- to prevent you taking the infection from them and spreading it to yourself or others.
Before putting on PPE
- to prevent you getting any infection on your hands onto masks, gowns or other PPE which could spread it further.
After removing PPE
- to prevent you spreading any infection on the PPE. Do hand hygiene after removing gloves and gowns, and again after removing masks
Before aseptic tasks
- if you’re reading this hopefully you’re not doing aseptic tasks
After contact, or potential contact with bodily fluids, even if you were wearing gloves
- this is to protect your surroundings from any bodily fluids that may have gotten through your PPE.
Before touching anyone you’re supporting.
- to protect the person you’re supporting from infection on yourself and your surroundings .
After touching anyone you’re supporting.
- to protect yourself and your surroundings from infection on the person you’re supporting.
After touching anything in your surroundings
- to prevent yourself and people you’re caring for from infection on your surroundings, and prevent you from carrying infection from one person to another.

What to use for hand hygiene

Hand hygiene can be done in two ways: with hand sanitiser or with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand sanitiser is highly effective against the COVID-19 virus. However, other pathogens may be more resistant to the use of hand sanitisers, so it is preferable to wash your hands with soap and water in situations where general hygiene is important(for example, if you are handling food).[1] Hand sanitisers may also be less effective if your hands are very dirty, so it is better to use soap and water in this case.

Ethanol-based hand sanitiser rapidly destroys the COVID-19 virus. Gel or foam sanitisers are both effective. Hand sanitisers containing 70% and 80% alcohol have been shown to deactivate the virus within 30 seconds or less of contact.[2][3] Lower concentrations of ethanol also appear to be effective[4][5], but have not been trialled in real-life conditions against COVID-19, so we recommend a sanitiser containing 70-80% ethanol when available. Very high concentrations of alcohol (higher than 95%) are not effective, since the alcohol will evaporate before it has made contact with the virus for long enough.
Isopropyl alcohol also deactivates COVID-19. A sanitiser with a concentration of 75% is recommended, but lower concentrations may be effective if this is unavailable.[5]
If you do not want to use an alcohol-based product, a recent study suggests that hand sanitisers containing benzalkonium chloride in concentrations of 0.15-0.2% can also rapidly deactivate COVID-19. [6].
If this is not available, the label ‘EN 14476’ indicates that products have met the European testing standard for use against viruses similar to COVID-19. However,sanitisers with this label may require a longer contact time - the testing standard only requires that these products deactivate viruses within 2 minutes. [7]
If using soap, you can use bar soap or liquid soap with no difference in procedure. There is no need to use antibacterial soap to remove COVID-19; any soap is equally effective.

How to do hand hygiene

The steps are the same whether you use hand sanitiser or water, except at the end.

If you are using soap and water, you must set the tap running and leave it running.
Wet your hands and apply soap to them, until a foamy lather forms. If using alcohol hand sanitiser, apply enough to your hand to be able to coat all of your hands.
Rub your hands palm to palm, covering your hands and insides of the fingers completely.
Lay one hand on top of another, so that your palm rests on the back of your hand, and mesh your fingers together. Move your hands back and forwards to scrub them. Swap over after a couple of seconds, and scrub the other back of your hands.
Lay your hands palm to palm, and mesh your fingers together, and scrub them together.
With one hand facing up and the other hand facing down, hook your fingers together, and rub the backs of your fingers along your palms.
Wrap one hand around the opposite thumb and twist several times, and repeat on the other thumb with the opposite hand.
Lay the tips of one hand against the opposite palm, and scrub them in circles for a few seconds. Swap and do the opposite hand.
Dry your hands:
- If you’re using hand sanitiser you must hold your hands in the air until they are dry.
- If you’re using soap and water you should use a disposable paper towel to dry your hands and then use that towel to turn the tap off.

If you can’t find hand sanitiser and can’t access soap and water

Glove protocol

Hand hygiene protocol

Contents

When to do hand hygiene

What to use for hand hygiene

How to do hand hygiene

If you can’t find hand sanitiser and can’t access soap and water