Basic hygiene

ceoltoir

Quite apart from the dangers posed by the swine flu scare, it's shocking how many young men in UCD don't bother to wash their hands after using the toilet. I work in one of the bigger buildings in the College and it's pretty disgusting seeing these people walk away from cubicles and urinals and straight out the door. That means they're leaving their germs all over door handles and other surfaces for the rest of us to pick up.

Considering that they're supposed to be highly educated individuals, it's surprising how little awareness they have of basic human hygiene. It's more animal than human behaviour. I ventured the opinion that it was considered 'cool' and macho these days not to wash your hands but a colleague suggested it's just the way teenagers/young men behave. If that's the case, it makes you wonder what other habits they have!

Maybe UCD should put 'Wash Your Hands!' notices up in all the toilets as it's a serious public health matter.

bnt

So I wash my hands ... then I have to grab a door handle to leave the toilet? Nice. Toilet doors should exit outwards, so you just push them with your shoulder or foot. I've been to St. Vincent's Hospital, and it's the same there - though I hope the operating theatres are different. But no - I'm the fusspot for expecting builders to pay attention to such details. Call it a systemic approach to hygiene if you like. :rolleyes:

tommym037

In my workplace, I see people leaving the toilet cublicles after emptying themselves without washing their hands. Disgusting

scop

Actually considering that one has probably taken a bus or opened a door elsewhere there is no escaping germs in UCD. Washing your hands is just pointless in a place like UCD. Better to allow your immune system become indifferent to the mass of germs.

The educated position is to NOT wash your hands.

bnt

In general, yes of course one is exposed to germs all the time, and a good thing too. Toilets are different, however - in there, a lot of bacteria come out in quantities you don't get in lecture theatres, and it's not the same germs (E.Coli etc.). It's not a yes/no question, the types and quantities of bacteria also matter.

ceoltoir

scop wrote: »

Better to allow your immune system become indifferent to the mass of germs. The educated position is to NOT wash your hands.

My immune system works fine; I'd rather not walk around/eat with other peoples' waste on my hands. It's not a pleasant thought.

Riamfada

Sorry It was only numbers ones

scop

I wasn't being serious there. I don't think there is much of an argument for not washing your hands in the bathroom.

However, this remains one of those unwinnable battles against peoples ingrained habits. Pretend it ain't happening as I do.

Jev/N

On a side note, urine is sterile anyways :rolleyes:

convert

In fairness, it's not just guys who don't wash their hands... it's girls too... And even worse, I've seen staff from a sandwhich bar in the library building walk out of the ladies' toilets without washing their hands.... Gross, Gross, GROSS!!!! :eek:

Riamfada

convert wrote: »

In fairness, it's not just guys who don't wash their hands... it's girls too... And even worse, I've seen staff from a sandwhich bar in the library building walk out of the ladies' toilets without washing their hands.... Gross, Gross, GROSS!!!! :eek:

Not entirely shocking news there.




NEXT

RandolphEsq

Grimes wrote: »

Not entirely shocking news there.




NEXT

Oh, seen it all have we?

I always wash my hands after 1s,2s and 3s, and do not particularly like to watch people walking out of the bathroom without doing the same. Knob juice clings to the penis and with it a whole host of nasty bacteria which can contribute to various unpleasant ailments

Mr.Nice Guy

I think it's always good to wash your hands, particularly with everything that's going about at the minute. Having said that, I do think poor facilities in the bathrooms contribute to the problem. Case in point, the men's toilets in the Arts building beside the photocopying machines.

I can recall most of the hand dryers for the toilets in there were busted for a very lengthy period of time. I'm not sure if they have been fixed since then but I recall a few guys weren't bothered doing what myself and some others did by drying our hands with toilet roll, instead they just decided not to bother giving their hands a rinse and just walked off.

Red Alert

Yep, there are a lot of broken hand-dryers in the place. They should get those new Dyson dryers - they are much faster, use less energy and more people will use them.

I've also seen staff from the library sandwich place fail to wash their hands and then return to work.

Breezer

bnt wrote: »

I've been to St. Vincent's Hospital, and it's the same there - though I hope the operating theatres are different.

Off the top of my head, they open inwards actually. Or maybe it's both ways, I can't remember tbh. But anyone in there has to wash their hands, and anyone going anywhere near the patient (i.e. surgeon, assistant surgeon, any nurses handling surgical instruments, etc.) have to go through a rigourous 'scrubbing in' procedure involving two different types of anti-bacterial soap, sterile gowns, and sterile gloves. Once scrubbed in, they can't go near anything that isn't sterile and no one who hasn't scrubbed in can go near them. Also, alcohol gels are provided every couple of meters along every wall in the hospital, and there's signs up encouraging people to use them and illustrating the proper handwashing technique, which is also taught to all medical students. Now you know

Jev/N wrote: »

On a side note, urine is sterile anyways :rolleyes:

In the body it is, unless you have a urinary tract infection. But it has to pass through the external urethral orifice, around which the skin is far from sterile, and once it's out of the body it's quickly colonised by bacteria.

Here endeth the lecture :pac: Oh, and not washing hands is disgusting. Not once in my life have I left a toilet without washing them. Bleh :mad:

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

don't you have to scrub your hands vigourlsy with soap and hot water before you even have a hope of killing germs? What most people seem to considering washing their hands is a few half hearted rubs under a cold tap, and then a baleful stare at the back of the brave few who just saunter on out the door.

robert2000

just don't piss on your hands

seraphimvc

i just come in to say hi to our toilet/cubicle police(s)

good day sir/m'am!!

Breezer

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

don't you have to scrub your hands vigourlsy with soap and hot water before you even have a hope of killing germs? What most people seem to considering washing their hands is a few half hearted rubs under a cold tap, and then a baleful stare at the back of the brave few who just saunter on out the door.

Aren't these both usually provided in modern toilets? And even the rubbing action helps to shed some bugs, particularly viruses.

bnt

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

don't you have to scrub your hands vigourlsy with soap and hot water before you even have a hope of killing germs?

Like I said before: it's not a yes/no question, of germs or no germs. There are different degrees of contamination and levels of cleanliness. I'd rather see a cold water wash instead of nothing, even though it would not be anywhere good enough for an operating theatre.

If you have zero tolerance for germs, you better start carrying around some alcohol-based sanitizer, like those bottles attached to the walls of St. Vincent's. But this thread is about basic hygiene, and I'll be happy if people at UCD practice basic hygiene. Just wash your hands with soap, even if the water is cold. No need to go to extremes if you know where your hands have been.

Breezer

bnt wrote: »

If you have zero tolerance for germs, you better start carrying around some alcohol-based sanitizer, like those bottles attached to the walls of St. Vincent's.

Oi, leave our bottles alone! We need them to stop us all dying of swine flu! It'd be much more fun to just dress like this anyway:

cats-pyjamas

ceoltoir wrote: »

Maybe UCD should put 'Wash Your Hands!' notices up in all the toilets as it's a serious public health matter.

I've visited several UK universities over the past few months and they have these notices - with detailed instructions about proper hand washing. Well worth the money I think.

Breezer

cats-pyjamas wrote: »

I've visited several UK universities over the past few months and they have these notices - with detailed instructions about proper hand washing. Well worth the money I think.

It works in a hospital (most of the time), but would they really work in a place like UCD where health concerns aren't always to the forefront of everyone's mind? It's not as if the 'Parking in marked bays only - clamping in operation' signs are particularly successful. Or Trinity's 'Please keep off the grass' notices.

cats-pyjamas

Breezer,

IMHO, I think these signs work precisely because they do the work of bringing the issue to the forefront of the mind.
I'm assuming that you think the reason that hygiene isn't at the forefront of people's minds in UCD because unlike a hospital there are no sick people to be at risk from poor hygiene. However I think that the presence of swine flu poses a comparable risk and therefore a good reason to have reminders to practice good hygiene.

Maybe for such posters or signs to work they would need to make reference to swine flu or other risk in order to not only bring better hygiene to the forefront of our minds but also a reason for doing so - the risks that poor hygiene poses to our health. This was the case with the signs that I saw in UK universities.

Sadly, such reminders to wash hands properly or keep off the grass will never translate to full compliance; there will always be some people who ignore the signs. However I like to think that most people would comply: after all, everyone doesn't walk on the grass at Trinity, some do adhere to the walkways (I can't speak for parking spaces as I don't drive).

micf

I wish some of the guys in UCD would wash more often... especially the skinny black-haired one who insists on standing close to me whenever he gets the chance!! Creep:eek:!! And the Bad Odour!!!! A wash wouldn't go astray!! I hate to think whether he ever washes his hands even!

Breezer

cats-pyjamas wrote: »

Breezer,

IMHO, I think these signs work precisely because they do the work of bringing the issue to the forefront of the mind.
I'm assuming that you think the reason that hygiene isn't at the forefront of people's minds in UCD because unlike a hospital there are no sick people to be at risk from poor hygiene. However I think that the presence of swine flu poses a comparable risk and therefore a good reason to have reminders to practice good hygiene.

Maybe for such posters or signs to work they would need to make reference to swine flu or other risk in order to not only bring better hygiene to the forefront of our minds but also a reason for doing so - the risks that poor hygiene poses to our health. This was the case with the signs that I saw in UK universities.

Sadly, such reminders to wash hands properly or keep off the grass will never translate to full compliance; there will always be some people who ignore the signs. However I like to think that most people would comply: after all, everyone doesn't walk on the grass at Trinity, some do adhere to the walkways (I can't speak for parking spaces as I don't drive).

I'm just wondering would they have the desired effect. I'd like to believe that most people wash their hands after going to the toilet anyway, and I'm not sure the notion of swine flu would be enough to persuade many people who don't wash them to start doing so. It's not as if they don't already know it's unhygienic, I mean they're university students, not cavemen. In a hospital, people are usually there to visit someone they know or are related to, and if they've bothered coming to see them, they probably care whether or not they infect them with something, so I think the principle works better there.

But you've said they work, so I'll take your word for it. They definitely wouldn't hurt, and I can think of much stupider things for students' and taxpayers' money to be spent on. I'm convinced - let's go poster the place