It is well known that inadequate hand washing can lead to the spread of germs. However, as cleaning professionals it is sometimes overlooked how important this is in our industry. Even if your cleaning staff is wearing gloves, it is still important that they spend the extra time necessary to make sure chemicals and germs are thoroughly washed off their hands.

Wash hands thoroughly after using chemicals, cleaning up spills, or emptying trash -- even if gloves were worn. At least 20 seconds are needed for the washing to be effective. Follow these steps to get hands thoroughly clean:

1. Wet hands with warm running water prior to reaching for soap, either in bar or liquid form.

2. Add soap and rub hands together to make a lather. This should be done away from running water, so the lather is not washed away.

3. Wash the front and back of hands, between fingers and under nails. Continue rubbing the hands for an additional 15 seconds.

4. Rinse hands well under warm running water.

5. Dry hands thoroughly with either clean towels or an air dryer.

If soap and water are not available, it is a good idea to keep alcohol based hand sanitizers, gels or antibacterial wipes around as an alternative.

It is especially important in health care environments that employees take the extra time needed to be sure they have removed any contaminants they may have come in contact with. Problem areas in health care environments include: door handles, patient bed rails, patient and public telephones, restrooms, treatment areas and furniture.

Surveys show that proper training is beneficial in getting employees to pay attention to their hand washing habits. When training your employees make sure to include this vital information about keeping their hands clean.