Invasion of the germs

DID you know that a staggering 80% of communicable diseases are transferred by touch alone – which means that they can be easily prevented by implementing proper hand washing techniques.

And if that alone doesn’t make you want to rush to the bathroom to give your digits a good scrub, then the following shocking facts certainly will.

• The average office desk has 400 times more bacteria on it than a toilet seat does

• The average kitchen chopping board has around 200% more faecal (poo) bacteria on it than a toilet seat

• Handbags can carry up to 10 000 bacteria per square inch

• Only 20% of people say that they dry their hands after washing, which is rather concerning considering that damp hands are 1 000 times more likely to spread bacteria than dry hands

• Smartphones can carry more than 30 000 bacteria units per swab

• Washing your hands after using a toilet? Sixty-two percent men and 40% women don’t actually do it

• The average computer keyboard can also contain more bacteria than a toilet seat

• Up to 26 000 live bacteria can be found on the average banknote

• Touching a handrail in public (such as an excalator or lift buttons) brings you into contact with 5 000 hands – many of which were unwashed

• Touching food with contaminated hands spreads food-borne illnesses such as Salmonella, E. Coli and diarrhoeal infection.

The top four ‘germiest’ places in the office

Telephone

In many workplaces telephones are still used by multiple employees.

Office phones can harbour more than 25 000 germs per square inch. Users should be instructed to wipe off handsets and keypads with sanitising wipes after using them and periodically throughout the day.

Lift button

Avoid direct contact with lift surfaces if you can.

Consider using your elbow rather than your hand to push the buttons.

Want to guess the number one place in the elevator for harbouring bacteria and germs? It’s the ‘one’ or first floor, button.

Keyboard

As mentioned in our list above, they can actually have more than 200 times as many bacteria as a toilet seat.

Bathroom

Public and office bathrooms are one of the germiest places of all. E. coli and other toxins are often found on nearly every surface.

Folks who wash their hands before leaving are nonetheless presented with germy door handles.

As a solution, use paper towels to turn taps off and on, to close the toilet lid before flushing, and to open the door before exiting.

Simply washing your hands on a regular basis throughout the day can help to prevent around 30% of diarrhoea-related illnesses, and around 20% of respiratory infections such as colds.

When to wash your hands

• Before and after making food

• Before eating

• Before and after caring for someone who is sick

• Before and after cleaning a wound

• After using the toilet, changes nappies or cleaning a child that has used the toilet

• After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing

• After touching any animal, their toys, leashes or picking up their poo

• After emptying a dustbin or taking out the rubbish

• After using public transport

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Sources initial.co.uk/ ofidel.com/ savlon.co.za/ ohsonline.com