Handsfree Dispenser

        Children can be oblivious to clean hands or clean anything else for that matter. They have to be taught to wash their hands in the bathroom, before eating, after playing with pets. The list goes on but the most important time to wash hands is before eating.

Another thing to teach them is to sneeze or cough into the elbow so as not to spread cold and flu viruses. Parents and teachers can stress this with children. Day care centers and classrooms can be breeding places for children. Those in charge can use disinfectant wipes on toys, computers and other commonly used items especially during the cold and flu season.

We are not looking for overkill because research has shown that early exposure to harmless microbes can boost immunity to diseases and allergens. Good common sense instructions on personal hygiene and awareness of contamination are all that are neccessary to keep chilren from harmful germs

     We’ve all been told about potato salad in the summertime.  Don’t leave it unrefrigerated for long, and throw it out if it is not cold anymore.  Also responsible cooks and chefs will wash their hands before preparing food. What’s more when we order at a Subway, we can feel secure that the person making our sandwich has on vinyl gloves so therefore our food is not contaminated.

      Wrong. What we don’t know is how the different food items were prepared.  Did the food handler wash his or her hands before cutting up the vegetables and other items? Did he or she also handle other objects, thereby contaminating the food?   Even if a person wears gloves to handle food, if he or she touches other objects those gloves are contaminated  That also goes for cooking utensils while they are being used.

      After handwashing, the best way to dry hands is with a sanitary towel.  That means using a touchless towel dispenser. They can be wall-mounted  or countertop types.  Both are sensor-operated dispensers so that one gets a clean towel each time. This should be done before and after food handling.

      For foods other than meats and chicken a soap and water cleanup is sufficient, otherwise a disinfectant spray or wipe should be used on all surfaces touched by chicken and other meats to prevent the spread of Salmonella and e.coli.

     For those of us who work in an area that is shared by other workers, here is some advice on how to avoid germs that might cause illness. People who are sick should stay home, but sometimes they are just coming down with something and do not realize it. Even healthy people can contaminate a work area with their hands. A lot of cross-contamination happens when individuals pickup germs from objects and then touch other objects with unsanitary hands.

     Common places where germs thrive in the workplace are phones, elevator buttons, door knobs, restrooms, copy and fax machines, pens and pencils, and keyboards. Tests were conducted  to see how contaminated these different objects were.  By far, shared keyboards harbored more disease-causing germs than a toilet seat. Hard to believe, but true.  Different users add their own variety of microbes to the keys and usually the keyboards are not sanitized.

     Waterproof keyboards are available.  Some can even be put through a dishwasher cycle to clean (but not on the heat cycle).  Disinfectants can be used on them also, either disinfectant wipes or spray. A waterproof mouse that can be sanitized protects the user even further. Hospitals, schools, industrial offices, and other places could really prevent  some sick days by installing these keyboards.