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Ministry Programs

Influenza Pandemic

Faith Groups : Hand Hygiene Protocol

Hand hygiene is the singe most important thing we can all do to prevent the transmission of infection, including influenza.

Hand hygiene includes hand washing at a sink with soap and water and/or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

You should practice hand hygiene on a regular basis, including in the following situations :

• After coughing or sneezing
• After blowing your nose and using facial tissue
• After using the washroom
• After touching any body fluids
• After changing diapers
• After shaking hands and touching shared surfaces or objects
• Before touching/eating food or drinking
• Before and after caring for the sick
• Whenever your hands are dirty

Faith leaders may want to consider promoting hand hygiene within their community. This could be accomplished through the following means :

• Posting signage around facilities (e.g., washrooms, kitchens, etc.) promoting hand hygiene;
• Maintaining a stock of hand hygiene supplies in washrooms and kitchens (i.e., paper towels and pump liquid soap);
• Making alcohol-based hand sanitizer available where people congregate, in situations where multiple people touch communal religious objects, and before and after "hand" contact; and,
• Supplying facial tissue and extra garbage cans for disposal at meetings, etc.

A sample hand hygiene protocol that can be posted around your facility (e.g., washrooms, kitchens, etc.) is available for download below.

Document download

Handwashing Protocol
1 page | 54 kb | PDF format

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