It is the rainy season, but also the time of flu and viruses. The rainy season always brings diseases like the cold, flu, viral fever, conjunctivitis, bacterial infections, and more.
All of these diseases are contagious and spread through contamination, making it even more important to maintain good hygiene, especially hand hygiene. Adhering to good hygiene practices not only reduces the likelihood of contracting a disease but also reduces the risk of spreading disease in the community.
Daily hand washing is the most effective way to prevent healthcare-associated infections and reduce their spread. But how exactly and how often do you remember to wash or sanitize your hands?
I know your answer. When busy with important things, we easily forget to disinfect our hands.
But old problems need modern solutions. The modern solution we are talking about is an IoT-based hand hygiene monitoring system. This automated hand hygiene monitoring system can be installed in offices, hospitals, and public washrooms, thus taking one more step to transform commercial buildings into smart buildings.
The automated electronic monitoring system is expected to improve hand hygiene performance as conventional hand hygiene methods fail to work.
How? Well, you have to read the complete blog to get a detailed answer.
WHY DO CONVENTIONAL HAND HYGIENE METHODS NOT WORK?
It is generally believed that hand hygiene reduces the prevalence of general infections and hospital-acquired infections.
There are already hand hygiene protocols.
But does anyone follow those protocols?
WHO recommends washing your hands for 20 seconds with soap to prevent the spread of infection. But 97% of the time, people fail to correctly wash their hands.
(Fun Fact: 5 May is considered World Hand Hygiene Day)
Let me explain why hand hygiene protocols are not easy to monitor and cannot be enforced through simple manual observation.
1. UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DEALING WITH
In a commercial building or a small or medium-sized facility, there will be thousands of hand-washing events every month. With so many encounters and procedures, it is impossible to manually observe even a tiny percent of them.
2. THE HAWTHRONE EFFECT
When people know they are being watched, they adjust their behavior to what they are being watched for. This is known as the Hawthorne effect. Offices, hospitals, and other areas where there is a self-report on hand washing rates based on manual observation are woefully exaggerating compliance. However, with constant monitoring through the tracking system, you will get completely accurate data even when no one is looking.
3. INTERVENTIONS LEAD TO WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY
Even in a single facility, there is never a one-size-fits-all program that will suit the needs of different modes and environments. Knowing where the improvement opportunities are and being able to measure what works best will help with infection prevention.
4. NOBODY LIKES BEING WATCHED
Nobody wants a constant eye on themselves, it gets irritating. Instead, give them data and insights in real-time so that they can manage the problems and never feel hyper-scrutinized.
5. MANUAL OBSERVATION RECORDS
By taking the benefit of digital solutions for monitoring compliance, the buildings can raise the profile of this issue and drive changes in the culture around it. Because changing behavior gets easier when it’s part of a larger cultural shift. It also gets easier with data to educate staff and team members.
Now that you are aware of the reasons why conventional hand hygiene-promoting methods don’t work. Let’s understand the proposed solution
NEW SOLUTION: HAND HYGIENE MONITORING SYSTEM
The new solution to this old problem is an IoT-based hand hygiene monitoring system.
The aforementioned hand hygiene monitoring system operates on a very simple but reliable technology based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) platform. This is the best solution for commercial buildings, factories, warehouses, hospitals, laboratories, and more.
The IoT-based hand hygiene monitoring system works in the following ways:
- The system includes Bluetooth technology in a badge or a card worn by a worker/employee. The badge helps communicate the IoT sensors affixed to soap and sanitizer dispensers all across the building.
- This smart badge will capture hand hygiene opportunities and hand washes for each individual wearing it.
- Beacon sensors installed in the environment detect the signal when someone enters space. Smart badges/wearable tags send a signal to gateways that are positioned throughout the handwashing/sanitizing stations.
- So, when an individual walks into a building, the beacon sensor will detect it. The individual will have a certain number of seconds (30 sec.) to dispense sanitizer or soap. If they don’t, a Real-Time Voice Reminder is triggered saying, “Please Sanitize.”
- In the washrooms inside the building, the voice changes to “Soap and Water Only.” A dispenser sensor is also placed inside the soap/sanitizer dispenser. (Note: Inside the washrooms, along with the hand hygiene monitoring system, you can also establish the washroom occupancy monitoring system for more efficiency.)
- As a person moves through the building, their location is recorded in real-time, and specific records can be made when they are detected at a handwashing station for the time expected to be needed to thoroughly wash their hands according to the appropriate standards.
This is the same technology used for asset location tracking and wayfinding solutions in large commercial buildings.
WHY DO YOU NEED A HAND HYGIENE MONITORING SYSTEM?
Let’s start with the most important and obvious benefit. Better hand hygiene has been shown to reduce the number of infections spread in the community. Reducing the spread of infections in the community is a major government concern, and now the solution is within reach.
But there is more to the hand hygiene monitoring system. If installed in hospitals, it will reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). The healthcare industry spends billions of dollars a year to prevent HAIs, which is also a top concern for patients.
More benefits come from the data that the system collects and gives statistical insight. The hand hygiene monitoring system can also generate reports that will inform officials about compliance by individuals.
WHY CONSIDER PSIBORG FOR DEVELOPING IOT SOLUTIONS?
As an IoT service-providing company, PsiBorg holds years of experience in developing IoT solutions.
Some of the benefits of developing hand hygiene solutions through PsiBorg Technologies rather than adopting a legacy system are:
Scalability
Without any open standards that allow for hardware from other vendors, there is a ceiling on the potential for scaling up.
Complexity caused by multiple vendors
The closed system will force you to turn to multiple vendors for different services, which will require you to learn and use several dashboards and organize siloed data.
The Need for On-site Servers
When talking about data, the cloudless legacy system will require servers to support it, and those servers will need attention from the IT team.
Long Time to Value
The legacy system is likely to require professional attention, cable pulls, and maintenance contracts.
One additional benefit of developing your solution is that you can customize it as per your requirements.
If you are thinking about getting a solution to improve hygiene at your facility, then think no more and reach out to us.
This is your first step towards digital transformation and a sign that you can invest in infection prevention to save money. Let’s discuss how PsiBorg can help you develop a hand hygiene monitoring solution for your staff.
Schedule a call with our team today.
Meanwhile, stay healthy, and keep reading!
