Handwashing and the Food Industry
Hand hygiene adherence system. When you go to a restaurant bathroom, you will often see a sign that states “employees must wash hands before returning to work”. All you can do is hope that employees are following this rule. Even so, in 2014 Jimmy Kimmel made a skit about how most Americans don’t wash their hands properly. It is recommended you should wash your hands for 20 seconds based on CDC guidelines. He invited One Republic to create a handwashing song that lasts just the right amount of time for you to sing while washing your hands. You can watch the skit here.
However, there is no way to ensure that the hands won’t be contaminated from the bathroom, and back into the kitchen. Unclean hands can pass illnesses to both the food, the surfaces, and the tools in restaurants. The World Health Organization found that 600 million individuals suffer from foodborne diseases every year and 7.5% of all deaths annually are due to foodborne illnesses. According to Fortune Magazine, food contamination costs the US economy a shocking 55.5 billion dollars a year in sick days and lost productivity alone. Handwashing protocols must be followed strictly to truly have the upper hand in the fight against hand-borne pathogens.
Double-Handwashing
When food workers use the restroom, they should always wash their hands in the restroom sink and then wash them again at a handwashing sink before continuing their duties. This practice is called double handwashing. Double handwashing helps make sure that the germs and bacteria that may have been picked up between the restroom and the kitchen, don’t make it to the food consumed by the customer. Double handwashing acts as an insurance policy preventing dangerous pathogens. This practice helps protect the hands of those who are preparing food as well as the customer from foodborne illness.
Double handwashing removes pathogens from the food worker’s hands. Some food industry workers may think that they don’t need to wash their hands twice if they do a good job the first time after using the restroom. However, not everyone who uses the bathroom follows the proper hygiene rules. Someone who doesn’t wash their hands well enough can spread pathogens to other areas of the bathroom, like a door handle or a sink. From that point, pathogens can easily advance to the newly washed hands of food industry workers. Double handwashing is the solution to this problem. After washing hands in the handwashing sink, washing in the bathroom food handlers can ensure that their hands are pathogen-free and ready for work.
Consumers want to eat at safe restaurants. Customers want to make sure that they are not going to get sick from eating at a restaurant. If a food worker exits the restroom, it helps ease the customers’ minds if the food worker washes their hands. The customer shouldn’t have to wonder whether the person who is preparing their food, will make them sick. Double handwashing can and will solve this problem.
Hand hygiene adherence system
The smart hand hygiene machine scans the hands during the washing process and grades the user’s techniques, letting them know immediately whether or not they had an effective wash cycle.
The CleanMachine also dispenses the correct amount of soap and warm water when sensing movement in a touch-free operation that allows for minimizing infections around the washing station.
The automatic hand washing machine has a facial recognition feature, which allows employers to track important hygiene trends inside their facilities and provide further guidance if needed.
Soapy is the best handwashing experience in the world. The smart personal hand hygiene station scans the hands, coaches the user, and gives a live report of the handwashing process. The handwashing machine is also touch-free, eliminating problems like contamination at the point of use and allowing control over resources used. On average, the CleanMachine saves 95% of water and 60% of reagents used in traditional handwashing techniques.
