Chapters authored
Hand Hygiene Practices in Public Restrooms: Effects and Proposed Solutions
Human safety is a popular ongoing research area in personal hygiene. Researchers are mostly apprehensive about how to protect humans from different hazards in the environment. Thus, guidelines developed for good hand wash practices in the public restrooms have showed little or no impact on human behavior. This research examined hand wash acts in the public restrooms and proposed possible solutions to improve the practice. There are 427 people who participated in the study. Participant age ranged from 18 years old and upward: statistically, female, 63%; male, 35%; and unidentified, 2%. Descriptive statistics revealed 99.5% respondents approved restroom redesign for appropriate hand hygiene practice, while 49% suggested restroom device automation. Inferential statistics results on redesign with a Welsh t-test were statistically significant (t=1.967, df=300, p<0.0001; t=1.990, df=80, p<0.0001; t=1.9746, df=163, p<0.0001). Findings showed that hand hygiene guidelines and recommendations are insufficient to ensure proper promotion of hand wash practices in restrooms. This study concluded that good hand wash practices in public restrooms could be ergonomically redesigned to include a visual and auditory alert that reminds users to wash their hands after restroom usage and to include hand wash practice in school curriculum. The findings from this study could be applicable in restaurants, schools, and bars, to manage and control transmission of disease through direct hands contacted with infectious diseases in the restrooms.
Part of the book: Safety and Health for Workers