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‘Fewer than one in five Irish adults wash and dry their hands properly’
22nd of December 2021
Only 17 per cent of Irish people practise adequate personal hygiene when out and about, according to a new report.
Although 93 per cent of adults were found to perform some level of hand hygiene after going to the toilet, only 17 per cent washed and dried their hands to an adequate level when using facilities in childcare, public and food business settings. Adequate hand hygiene was defined as washing the hands for 20 seconds with soap and water, then drying them for 15 seconds with a hand dryer.
According to the study of nearly 500 adults, the general level of hand hygiene compliance in Ireland was poor with few facilities offering information or visual reminders about the need to wash and dry the hands.
The average length of time spent washing the hands was 18.7 seconds, with an average of 13.5 seconds spent on hand drying. The survey also revealed that 11 per cent of adults did not dry their hands at all, while two per cent dried them on their clothes. And women were more likely to practise good hand hygiene than men.
The study was carried out by Safefood, the all-island body responsible for the promotion of food safety in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
The findings demonstrated the need for hand hygiene improvement, according to Safefood.
"The knowledge and importance of good hand hygiene practices need to be improved across the island of Ireland," stated the report.
RSS