10 Million Canadians Did Not Wash Their Hands Today

10 Million – That’s about how many Canadians (age 15 & older) did not wash their hands today after using the washroom. While 92% of us say we believe it’s important to wash our hands – 34% of us don’t even bother. For context, consider that the average person urinates about seven times per day – we’ll skip over the fecal-oral transmission issue for now.

14 Million – That’s about how many Canadians did wash their hands after using the washroom today – except they didn’t bother to use soap. In fact, washing with soap – not just water – is vital to proper hygiene. While water is powerful at rinsing away dirt, it cannot easily remove soil or organisms that are attached to the hands. Soap can do this effectively, maximizing the rinsing benefit of the water. Also, drying your hands with a cloth or paper towel is very important for additional bacterial removal.

Help make hand hygiene contagious for all Canadians by liking and sharing this article. Thanks for spreading the infection control message and not germs.

80% – That’s the percentage of communicable diseases that are spread by touch (hands and surfaces). How likely do you think you will come into contact today with 1 of those 24 million Canadians who is not practicing good hand hygiene?

6 Million – If you’ve read this far – it's more than likely you are 1 of over 6 million Canadians, who actually did wash their hands (using soap and water) after using the washroom today. You might be surprised to learn that only about 300,000 Canadians washed their hands correctly – which takes about 20 seconds according to the CDC in order to kill disease-causing germs. Unfortunately, 95% of people don’t wash their hands long enough to kill germs and the average time is about 6-seconds.

1 – That’s the number of people it takes to start making a difference when it comes to practicing proper hand hygiene. It’s a small number that can add up to make a big infection control difference. In fact, proper hand hygiene practices can reduce illness, work absence due to illness, and the associated costs by up to 40%. Here are some tips on how to wash your hands correctly.

Please help make hand hygiene contagious for all Canadians, by liking and sharing this article. Thanks for spreading the infection control message and not germs.

About the Author – Patrick Boshell is the Marketing Director at Deb Canada and is on a mission to help make hands matter in the workplace. If you enjoyed reading this article, please follow Patrick to receive updated content on skin safety and hand hygiene for the workplace.

References

Canadian Population by Sex and Age Group https://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo10a-eng.htm

Here's How Many People Actually Wash Their Hands After Using The Bathroom https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-surprising-facts-about-handwashing_us_561fca57e4b050c6c4a491bb

Five Shocking Facts About Hand Hygiene https://www.initial.co.uk/blog/five-shocking-facts-hand-hygiene/

Urinary Frequency https://www.bladderandbowel.org/bladder/bladder-conditions-and-symptoms/frequency/

Hand Washing Technique https://www.debgroup.com/ca/hand-washing-technique

Only 5% of People Wash Their Hands Correctly https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-06/only-5-percent-people-wash-their-hands-correctly

Paper Towels or Hot Air Dryers – Which is Better and Why?https://info.debgroup.com/blog/bid/297155/paper-towels-or-hot-air-dryers-which-is-better-why