Hand Washing Signage & Hygiene Awareness Signs

How can best practices around hygiene benefit a business?

Signs on how to wash your hands explain when to clean hands and the correct washing methods, which is why they have a significant role to play in creating a more hygienic environment. Managing the risk of infection is essential to avoid extended sick leave, as well as potential claims from employees and local government.

In section two of its '5 steps to working safely'' scheme, the UK government compels businesses to "develop cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures" as these actions have a major impact on infection transfer.

How to best encourage good hygiene practices in Schools?

It’s just as important that children adhere to good hygiene practices, as well as adults. However, it can be more challenging to encourage children to wash their hands. That’s why we have introduced a range of fun Wash Your Hands Signs especially for children, so that they don’t see hand washing as boring! You may not have thought that you could make Wash Your Hands Signs funny, but our cute signs for Schools are all bright, bold and colourful and make up our wide range of Coronavirus Signage.

Why are hand wash station signs important?

Encouraging employees with handwashing technique signs can prevent them from spreading infections or illnesses to their colleagues. When people cleanse their hands with soap, germs and bacteria are removed, which is beneficial for many reasons.

Germs can be passed on quickly and can get a foothold in the body through the mouth, nose and eyes, making individuals ill within hours and causing an increase in sick days. As people regularly touch their nose, eyes and mouth without realising what they are doing, our NHS Hand Washing Recommendations Sign or STOP - Wash Your Hands Sign can help keep them vigilant. This helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and can stop less serious infections from taking hold in your facility.

• In the right conditions, germs breed quickly in food or drink and can make people unwell


• Aside from person-to-person contact, germs can be transferred onto bannisters, rails or door handles and then to hands


• It’s not just sickness bugs and respiratory infections that can be prevented by hand washing, skin infections and eye infections can also be minimised when germs are properly removed

What information should hand washing sink signs focus on?

As a business, the safety of your customers and your staff is always a top priority. Regular hand washing is always a sensible practice to promote, but because of the COVID-19 threat, making sure your team acts on government advice around hand washing is essential.

One of the best ways to remind individuals about being thorough is through Covid hand washing signage. We have many different options for you to choose from such as our Site Safety - How To Wash Your Hands Sign or our Now Wash Your Hands Sign which can be used in all employee toilet facilities. These make it easier for them to remember that they need to wash their hands for a full 20 seconds. We also have the How To Properly Wash Your Hands Sign which includes a written guide and images that detail a thorough hand wash process or our Wash Hands For 20 Seconds Sign. These bright, clear hand wash instruction signs include a step-by-step procedure that encourages employees to carry out an effective cleanse every time.

Regular risk assessments are a key part of any safety schedule at work. However, because you need staff to be on board with changes, clear communication is a good strategy. Regardless of how many members are on your team, hand washing procedure signs can remind them of shared objectives as well as the need to protect themselves.

When should people be washing their hands?

Whether you are buying Wash Your Hands bathroom signs for school staff and children, factory or office workers, the best way of getting the message across is with clear instructions. Although we do have simplistic signs that just say Wash Your Hands, our Wash Your Hands Warning Signs are more informative and contain advice on when and how to wash the hands. In a busy workplace, it’s easy to forget. Our Did You Wash Your Hands? signs can form part of an information campaign that helps your workforce to modify their behaviour in relatively small and simple ways.

Much of the advice is common sense, but our hand washing signs for hospitals and other facilities ensure that staff are aware of the current recommendations on when hand washing is essential. These are:

• After blowing your nose or when you have been sneezing or coughing


• Prior to eating snacks or lunch


• Before food is handled or prepared for others


• When you arrive at work


• As soon as you get home

How to protect a workplace and maintain a sanitary environment

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends that businesses: “Use signs and posters to help your workers to practice good handwashing technique and to remind them to cough/sneeze into an arm and avoid touching their faces." Hand wash station signs ensure staff know exactly what is expected of them by your business and the government, so it’s easier for them to adopt better handwashing behaviour.

Additionally, a workplace must have facilities where staff can wash their hands, which include running water, hand soap and paper towels. Sanitiser for the hands should be made available beside these facilities and you can highlight each location with a hand sanitiser station poster. Other areas of strategic importance for COVID-19 ‘wash your hands signage’ can be locations where staff handle goods, or get in and out of their car. Install an Easy Steps to Prevent the Spread of Germs Sign in these locations because workers often need a reminder when they are in a rush.

For more information on how you can best protect everyone in your workplace, we have everything you need to know about Coronavirus Infection Control.

FAQ

Will hand washing signs for bathrooms really affect people’s behaviour?

Studies have shown that ‘did you wash signs your hands signs’ for public health can change health-related behaviours, especially when they are displayed close to where the action they mention will take place. That’s why many of our Hand Sanitising Station Signs are designed to be installed in washrooms or beside a handwashing sink.

My team wear gloves, do they still need to wash their hands before handling food?

Yes, the same rules apply to people who wear gloves. That’s why hand washing signs for food service and hand washing signs for kitchen staff are important. The hands should be washed before putting on gloves, when changing gloves and once they have been removed.

Does the water in my washroom have to be very hot?

Hands cannot be kept under a very hot tap for the time it takes to wash properly. Therefore, it’s best to focus on using good hand washing technique signs and clear hand sanitising station signs rather than the temperature of the water.

Does signage have to be highly detailed?

No, we have very basic, colourful designs such as our Wash Your Hands Restroom Sign — an ideal handwashing sign option for school premises. This signage gets the message across in an eye-catching and colourful way.

Many of our customers are after printable images of Wash Your Hands Signs as a cheap alternative. Even though we don’t have free, downloadable signs at Seton, what we do offer are great value, high quality signs that will serve your business’s needs.