Blog

If you’re diligent about clean hands, it’s likely that you wash them before you eat food and after you sneeze. But what about after touching the object you interact with most often? Picture this. You walk into a grocery store with clean hands, and you contaminate them by touching a cart handle. Then you grab your phone to check your grocery list or answer a text …And you’re back at square one. You now have dirty hands and a dirty device.

Is there anything we touch more throughout the day than our phones? Probably not. If you’re an average user, you’re tapping, typing, swiping and clicking over 2,600 times per day![i] Once you come in contact with contaminated surfaces, then grab your phone, it could then be the culprit for spreading germs. You’re stuck in an endless loop of cross-contamination, but you don’t have to be.

Get Charged Up for Good Hand Hygiene

The Department of Health recognises that touching a contaminated surface or object is how germs spread. You can help yourself, and those around you stay healthy by washing your hands often and routinely cleaning frequently touched surfaces. “For example: tables, doorknobs, light switches, handles, desks, toilets, faucets, sinks, and electronics.”[ii]

Let’s start with the Department of Health recommendations for healthy hand hygiene. Help stop germs from spreading throughout your home and workplace by washing your hands during the key times you are likely to get and spread germs. This includes but is not limited to before, during, and after preparing food, before eating food, after using the toilet, and after coughing or sneezing.

To help stop the spread of viruses, like the flu or coronavirus, good hygiene is essential. That starts with washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water, states the Department of Health.

Side Note: Humming the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice is a good indication of how much time you should spend washing your hands.

For health care personnel, the Department of Health advises to practice good hygiene and take the “5 moments for Hand Hygiene”.[iii] “The 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene approach was designed by the World Health Organization to minimise the risk of transmission of microorganisms between a healthcare worker, the patient, and the environment.” Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.[iv]

• Moment 1: Perform hand hygiene on entering the patient’s zone before touching the patient.
• Moment 2: Perform hand hygiene Immediately before a procedure. Once hand hygiene has been performed, nothing else in the patient’s environment should be touched prior to the procedure starting.
• Moment 3: Perform hand hygiene immediately after a procedure.
• Moment 4: Perform hand hygiene after touching a patient. Perform hand hygiene before you leave the patient zone.
• Moment 5: Perform hand hygiene after touching a patient’s surroundings even when the patient has not been touched.

Guidelines spell out the importance of knowing what it could take to keep patients safe.

Touchless, 360-Degree Sanitisation

Proper sanitisation methods lower germs on a surface, which can reduce the risk of spreading germs. For electronics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines recommend considering the use of alcohol-based wipes or spray containing at least 70% alcohol to disinfect touch screens.[v] However, to be effective, traditional wipes can take upwards of three minutes to disinfect. This time adds up for healthcare professionals, teachers and IT staff who need to sanitise multiple devices. If you’re looking for a better way, the UVone UV-C disinfection for mobile devices works in just 30 seconds, making sanitisation six times quicker than traditional wipes. Also, UV-C light disinfects in a consistent manner, making it more reliable and efficient than wipes—plus, it does not degrade the integrity of devices over time.

Convenient and Visible	Touchless, Motion-Activated Door	Rapid UV-C Technology Disinfects

We understand the appeal of wanting to sanitise multiple devices at once, as some UV disinfection charging stations claim to do. However, we caution against buying a product that sounds too good to be true. It is incredibly challenging to disinfect with UV light inside of a cart. Racks and shelving can block UV-C light, so can other devices. Keep in mind; pathogens aren’t just lingering on screens. They’re all over your device. To disinfect an entire object, it must have 360-degree exposure to UV-C light rays. Think of it like putting a lid on a dirty pot and sticking it in the dishwasher. At the end of the cleaning cycle, the outside may be spotless, but the inside will be a dirty mess.

Also, if you utilise a UV disinfection station, but you have to physically touch the unit to open and close it, guess where you are? Back in the cycle of cross-contamination. With the UVone device disinfection, simply wave a hand above the system to open it, place the device inside, and then wave a hand again to close it. There’s no need to ever physically touch the station.

Clean Hands, Clean Devices

Remember all of those key times throughout the day you’re supposed to be washing your hands? Healthy hand hygiene and device hygiene go hand-in-hand. While it may seem logical to disinfect devices overnight, disinfecting once per day may not be enough to stop the spread of viruses. As germs are spread by users touching devices multiple times a day, sanitising them more often can prevent cross-contamination. Luckily, UVone’s sleek design means it can be placed where it’s most convenient and likely to be used, contributing to better sanitising practices.

What if during the seconds that it takes to wash your hands, you could sanitise your device too? By the time it takes you to walk over to the sink and scrub up while singing the chorus of your favourite song, your UVone sanitised device will be even cleaner than your hands. Clean hands, clean device, and a swift end to the cycle of cross-contamination.

Sources

[i] Putting a Finger on Our Phone Obsession – dscout, Inc.

[ii] Good hygiene for coronavirus (COVID-19) – Department of Health | Australian Government

[iii] Hygiene and cleaning for the health workforce during COVID-19 – Department of Health | Australian Government

[iv] 5 Moments For Hand Hygiene – Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care

[v] Cleaning and Disinfection for Households – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)