flu prevention is good for business

SANJAN/FEB15COVER

TO DO & PLACE

Sanitation Canada – JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015 9

very year influenza, or the flu, af-fects not just our health but of-ten the bottom line for manybusinesses. Regardless if an em-ployer is large or small, the flu

can be a big disruption and its true finan-cial impact may be more than you think.

Queen’s University medical researchersrecently released some key findings fromthe first study of its kind done in Canadaon the impact of colds and flu on absen-teeism, the workplace and the economy.

Researchers found that the work forcegoes to work rather than calling in sick –resulting in substantial losses of produc-tivity and increased costs. Approximately83 per cent of the participants in the sur-vey said they continued to attend work orschool while experiencing symptoms ofan influenza-like illness. This has been

hand hygiene

termed “presenteeism” and costs employ-ers twice as much in productivity losses foremployees who come to work sick thanfor those who stay home.

All of this infection adds up to a sig-nificant economic cost as researchers citedirect costs due to lost productivity fromcolds at $25 billion in the United Statesalone. Taking into consideration both in-direct (lost productivity) and direct (doctorvisits and medicine) costs of colds, the fig-ure in the U.S. is $40 billion annually.

FLU SEASONAccording to the Public Health Agency

of Canada, the flu season usually runs fromNovember to April. Anywhere from threeto seven-and-one-half million Canadianswill get the flu in any given year. Most peo-ple recover fully in approximately one weekor 10 days, but some may develop seriouscomplications. Each flu season approxi-mately 20,000 Canadians are hospitalizedbecause of the flu and its complications.Additionally 2000 to 8000 Canadians,

EThe following article is posted on the Deb

Group Hand Hygiene, Infection Preventionand Food Safety Blog – http://

info.debgroup.com/blog.

mostly seniors, die from pneumonia andother serious complications.

Influenza is spread from person-to-person via droplets when coughing orsneezing. Individuals then touch objectsand surfaces that are contaminated withthe virus (i.e. doorknobs and telephones),and ingest the virus by touching their eyes,nose or mouth. The influenza virus maypersist for hours in dried mucus and betransmitted by direct contact. It is spreadvery easily indoors, which is why it is soprevalent during the winter months innorthern countries, when people spendmore time together inside.

FLU PREVENTIONAccording to the Community and Hos-

pital Infection Control Association –Canada (CHICA), the following measureswill help reduce the spread of influenza:

• Clean hands thoroughly and fre-quently with soap and water, or alcohol-based hand rub, especially after contact with

By PATRICK BOSHELL, Marketing Director, Deb Canada

Continued On Page 11

Flu Prevention isGood for Business



• Rinse the soap from your hands;• Dry hands completely with a clean

towel if possible (helps remove germs);• Pat your skin rather than rubbing to

avoid chapping and cracking;• If soap and water are not available,

use alcohol-based hand sanitizer;When soap and water are not available

or hands are not visibly soiled, use an alco-hol-based hand sanitizer to cleanse hands.In addition to improved spread-ability,foaming formulations have been shownto provide superior compliance and effi-cacy. When combined with hand washing,the effectiveness of alcohol hand sanitizersis increased and can reduce the risk of in-fection by, on average, 20 to 40 per cent.

MAKING HAND HYGIENE CONTAGIOUSFor many organizations, implement-

ing and maintaining appropriate hand hy-giene practices is a daily challenge, becauseof inconsistent hand hygiene habits acrossthe population.

Studies show that organizations canreduce the risk of spreading germs byadopting good hand hygiene practices, pro-viding adequate hand washing facilities andpromoting the use of a hand sanitizer ap-plied regularly to clean, dry hands to com-pliment routine hand washing.

There are also simple, practical steps thatemployers can take as part of their flu sea-son procedures, such as providing theworkforce with information on flu vacci-nation clinics and improving cleaning pro-cedures in the workplace.

Ultimately, businesses need to focus onhealth management and infection preven-tion rather than absence management.Queens University researchers concludethat, “Preventive measures that result ineven a modest reduction in colds and fluwould have a significant impact on reduc-ing costs to the healthcare system and im-pact on the economy.”

hand hygieneContinued From Page 9

the eyes, nose, mouth or body secretions.• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and

mouth.• Avoid handling soiled tissues or ob-

jects used by an ill person.• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tis-

sue or with your sleeve; throw the tissue inthe trash after use and clean your hands.

• Get an influenza immunization.• Stay home from work or school

when ill, and limit contact with others tokeep from infecting them.

• Follow the recommendations ofyour local public health unit.

WORKPLACE INFECTION PREVENTIONWorkplaces and public facilities where

people interact in close proximity are at ahigher risk for the spread of germs. Accord-ing to one recent workplace microbial sur-vey, “desk top surfaces, computer keyboards,mouse and telephone receivers are more con-taminated than restroom toilet seats.”

One of the challenges is that people donot wash their hands frequently or ad-equately enough. In fact, the average per-son washes their hands for around nineseconds. Only 16 per cent wash their handsfor the recommended time period. In ad-dition, separate washroom studies fromaround the world show that less than 80per cent of people wash their hands at all,which means that one in every five of yourco-workers is walking around with un-washed hands.

Studies show that for every employeewho comes to work sick, up to 18 per centof their colleagues will become infected asa result. Since our hands are responsiblefor the spread of 80 per cent of commoninfectious diseases, effective hand hygienecontinues to be universally recognized asthe smartest, most cost effective means ofinfection control in the workplace.

HAND HYGIENE 101The Centre for Disease Control pub-

lished the following helpful tips for wash-ing with soap and water as part of its “CleanHands Save Lives” initiative.

• Place your hands together under wa-ter (warm, if possible);

• Rub your hands together for at least20 seconds (with soap, if possible);

• Wash hands thoroughly, includingwrists, palms, back of hands and underthe fingernails;

• Clean dirt from under the fingernails;

Patrick Boshell is the marketing director for DebCanada and the managing editor of Deb Group’s HandHygiene, Infection Prevention and Food Safety blog. He’sbeen actively involved in the Canadian commercializa-tion of several Deb innovations including OptidoseInstantFOAM hand sanitizer for healthcare, andGrittyFOAM heavy duty hand cleaner for manufactur-ing and industrial applications. Boshell is an advocate formaking hand hygiene contagious in the workplace. He isalso a social media enthusiast, using tools such as LinkedInand Twitter to help educate the importance of effectivehand hygiene and skin care to a global audience. Toconnect with Boshell, please contact him on LinkedIn orfollow him on Twitter.

20 Sanitation Canada – JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015

INDUSTRY NEWSBETCO® MAKES COMMITMENTTO EDUCATE AND INFORM


one of the most comprehensivecleaning and maintenance programsin the industry.

With the blog, the company hasexpanded on the foundation it hasalready established, and created agreater opportunity to communicateand interact directly with its custom-ers. Betz said that blogging has con-tinued to grow in importance with theintroduction of social media sites.

“Our focus right now for our blogis on three key areas: water conser-vation, floor care and skin care,” Betzsaid. “We plan to have updates everyweek on these topics. We encourageour visitors to ask questions, providefeedback and discuss their own (facil-ity maintenance) challenges on theblog or about any of our products.”

The Ontario Healthcare Housekeep-ers Association will host its Pack YourBackpack 4 – Super Bugs and Super He-roes from Jun. 2 to 4, 2015 at theKempenfelt Conference Centre, 3722Fairway Rd., in Innisfil, ON.

The conference is ideal for housekeep-ing and environmental service directors,managers and supervisors, as well as publichealth inspectors, infection prevention andcontrol practitioners, and facility and prop-erty managers.

Education programs will be the focus ofthe conference and feature such sessionsas:

• Coach approach to building super he-roes – interactive session.

• Preparing for the Globally Harmo-nized System (GHS).

• “Wheely Cross” – A study of wheel-

One of the problems in dealing with theEbola outbreak is no one knows exactly howlong the virus can live on contaminated sur-faces. This is the conclusion of Kyle Bibby,University of Pittsburgh, in an article he pub-lished in the December 2014 issue of Envi-ronmental Science & Technology Letters.

This is critical information, accordingto Bibby, because knowing how long apathogen survives on surfaces, in wateror in liquid droplets allows public healthofficials, doctors, scientists, as well ascleaning professionals to develop effec-tive disinfection practices to prevent thespread of the disease.

OHHA HOSTS PACK YOUR BACKPACK 4 – SUPER BUGS AND SUPER HEROESchair cleaningacross Canada –interactive ses-sion.

• T e a mBuilding – Howto slay yourdragon “boats”– interactive ses-sion.

HOW LONG CAN EBOLA LIVE?


While a great deal of emphasis todayis on e-commerce web sites, distributorsshould not forget the importance of hav-ing an attractive retail showroom.

“When it comes to cleaning equip-ment, many cleaning contractors prefernot to purchase online, but (instead liketo) touch and feel machines before theyselect them,” said Leah Waldrop, mar-keting manager for AFFLINK’s eLev8®

process. “Walk-in traffic is likely to re-main a big part of your business’ market-ing model.”

Because of its importance, Waldropsuggests the following five tips for creat-ing an effective sales-focused distributorshowroom:

• Know your customers – If the walk-

FIVE TIPS FOR CREATING A SALES-FOCUSED SHOWROOMin customers are mainly contract clean-ers, the equipment and cleaning suppliesthey most often select, such as floor ma-chines, should be the first products theysee. However, if they are facility manag-ers or hotel administrators, you maywant to have vacuum cleaners made forthe hospitality industry front and centre,Waldrop said.

• Separate the needs from the wants– A “best practice” in showroom mer-chandising is to have customer “wants”in the front of the house and customer“needs” behind the counter. The cus-tomer may have come in for somethingthey need, but walking through the show-room, they may fall in love with some-


• “Boldly go where no cleaner has gonebefore…”

Additionally, networking opportunitieswill also be abound with a golf tournamenton Jun. 2 at the Allandale Golf Course,Dragon Boat Races and entertainment withYuk Yuk’s Comedian Chris Quigley.

For more information and to register, contact theOntario Healthcare Housekeepers Association atwww.ohha.org/backpack.