Importance of Handwashing and Hand Hygiene

Facts about hand hygiene and washing hands

Sickness absence costs employers £495 a year in direct costs for every worker employed. Indirect costs are probably considerably more (CBI 2005 statistics)
Norovirus – a common form of sickness and diarrhoea can result in individuals being off work for up to four days
Handwashing is the best way to avoid colds, flu and other viruses (Professor John Oxford, of London’s Queen Mary’s School of Medicine, and various others)
Up to half of all men and a quarter of women fail to wash their hands after they’ve been to the toilet
We have between 2 and 10 million bacteria between fingertip and elbow
The number of germs on your fingertips doubles after you use the toilet
Germs can stay alive on hands for up to three hours