In these unusual times, a constant refrain is to “WASH YOUR HANDS”.  This is good advice even when we are not in the midst of a pandemic.  Hands help us communicate about the world around us.  They are our first tactile message about what happens in our daily world and in situations where we may be exploring and learning about the world around us. 

So why do we wash our hands with soap and water?  Did you know that soap is merely a surfactant?  It has a fat loving molecule that attaches to the dirt on your hands and washes it off and down the drain.  Soap differs from hand sanitizers, which are good at removing certain germs, but don’t do much for dirty or greasy hands.

In an environment where safety is tantamount, handwashing is your very first line of defense.  Washing front, back, between fingers, and under fingernails with soap, to the tune of “Happy Birthday” sung twice through, will give you reasonable assurance your hands are clean. 

Many of us are wearing surgical gloves to protect ourselves from cash machines, card terminals at stores, and at other public locations where frequent “touch surfaces” abound.  If one is wearing these gloves, it is still vital to remove the gloves as you would in any clinical setting.  Failure to remove them using prescribed Bloodborne Pathogen protocol can expose you to germs and negate the value of wearing the gloves.

So, bring consciousness to your hands.  Watch what they do, and where they touch (definitely not your face!).  They are your first line of defense against COVID-19.  Stay safe.  Stay healthy. 

Questions? Contact Cathy Reineke at cathy.reineke@compriskmgt.com.