What are Tips and Advice for Essential Hand Hygiene?

13 January 2022

Here at Coler Medical PPE we sell a range of sanitisers through our MIST-IFY range. Sanitisers are only part of the requirements for essential hand hygiene. Read on to learn some tips and advice for essential hand hygiene.

Why is hand hygiene important?

Practising hand hygiene is one of the very best ways of controlling the spread of many types of illness. Essential hand hygiene will reduce coronavirus infections, flu, food poisoning bugs and many others which can affect the person contaminated themselves as well as others they contact (e.g., through handshaking).

Government advice about hand washing and sanitising facilities

The Health & Safety Executive arm of the UK Government has provided the following advice about hand washing and sanitising facilities. Organisations should provide:

• “handwashing facilities with running water, soap and paper towels or hand dryers • hand sanitiser in areas where people are unable to wash their hands, such as sanitising stations in shops • hand sanitiser nearby for people getting in and out of vehicles or handling deliveries, if they are unable to wash their hands”

Should soap and water or sanitiser be used?

Either is absolutely fine, as they both kill bacteria, viruses and other pathogens upon contact. Sanitiser is extremely portable and should be used in locations where there is no access to running water. This is especially suitable for field staff, remote workers, district nurses, drivers, and delivery people, etc.

When to wash or sanitise your hands

Wash or sanitise hands as often as required, but particularly in the following circumstances:

  • After coughing or sneezing (or when others close to you cough or sneeze)
  • After personal contact, particularly handshaking
  • After using items in public, this could include buttons, ATMs, doors, handrails, and phones, etc,)
  • After using the bathroom (both at home and when outside)
  • After using all forms of public transport
  • Before eating or drinking
  • Before and after handling certain food types (e.g., eggs, fish, meat, poultry, and other foods too) and
  • If your hands are visibly dirty
A UK government poster promoting hand hygiene
A UK government poster promoting hand hygiene

How to wash and/or sanitise your hands

You can see from the above poster, government advice, which we summarise and extend below:

  • Wash/sanitise all of the following areas of the hands:
    • Palm to palm
    • The back of hands
    • In between the fingers
    • On the back of the fingers
    • Thumbs
    • On the tips of fingers
  • Wash/sanitise for at least twenty seconds
  • Use a tissue (or similar item) to turn off the tap
  • Dry your hands thoroughly and do not use a communal cleaning cloth (e.g., tea towel)

Choose Coler Medical PPE as a Part of Your Hand Hygiene Regime

Hand hygiene has always been really important, but never more so than since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Buy hypochlorous acid (HOCl) in confidence from the Coler Medical PPE MIST-IFY range. If you have any questions about our range, why not call us on

+44 (0) 1827 794 294, send an email to info@colermedical-ppe.co.uk or complete a contact form for an early reply.

Image Credits: UK Government Public Domain

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