ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Busy schedules and a heavy workload are among the chief reasons why some healthcare workers refrain from cleansing their hands, according to a Canadian study.

And 66 per cent of employees say they are less likely to use a sanitiser when faced with an emergency situation requiring immediate attention.

The study into reasons behind poor hand hygiene compliance in healthcare was carried out by washroom hygiene company GP PRO. Just over half the survey respondents said they were often deterred from hand cleansing due to sanitiser dispensers that were broken, malfunctioning or empty.

Having full hands or being unwilling to face the hassle of taking gloves on and off was a deterrent for 50 per cent of those questioned. And all these factors come down to a basic issue of inconvenience, according to GP PRO's senior director of healthcare innovation Ronnie Phillips.

"These healthcare workers know their facility's policy and they want to follow that policy, but our research shows that the very nature of their jobs in combination with the nature of how hand sanitiser is made available prevents them from doing so," he said.

The study authors concluded that hand sanitisers should be made freely available and distributed evenly around healthcare facilities. And care should be taken to ensure these are well maintained, kept topped up at all times and checked frequently for breakages.

It was further recommended that employers should seek to avoid over-burdening staff members with heavy workloads to allow them more time to follow important hand hygiene protocols.