Germs are invisible and they are just about everywhere.  When you or your child touch a doorknob, pick up a book or pet a dog, hands pick up germs. 

While some germs have little effect, germs like E.Coli and Salmonella, can make people very sick.  Since we can't tell the good germs from the bad, we all need to wash our hands and ensure that our children wash their hands to protect ourselves.

Parents need to lead by example and remind children to wash hands, especially at the following times:

• After using the washroom.  
• After petting an animal.
• After picking up after the family pet
• After changing diapers
• Before and after preparing food
• Before eating
• Before and after Brushing your teeth.
• When returning home after an outing, especially if the visit was to a doctor's office.  When using public restrooms for handwashing, try to avoid touching surfaces after washing.

Hands need to be washed more often during the cold and flu season, especially if someone with a cold is around.

In addition to washing hands, it's important that hands be washed thoroughly.  Hands should be rubbed at least 15 seconds with soap and water.  Attention should also be given to clean under the nails and any rings.  Hands should also be dried thoroughly with a clean towel.

While it is not necessary to use anti-bacterial soap, ordinary soap should due, anti-bacterial products do come in handy when soap and water is not available.

It's also important to ensure that where the soap sits is clean.  Using bars of soap usually means that a soap dish is nearby.  Soap dishes that drain allow the soap to dry and reduce the chance of bacteria growing on the soap.  If the soap dish does not have a drain, a regular cleaning is needed.  Pump soaps are great at avoiding this and kids love to use them.  Towels also contain germs and it's a great idea to change them daily for heavy use.  Hanging them up to dry also reduces the bacteria content of towels.

Children love to put things in their mouth and fingers usually end up in there too.  Encourage children at an early age to keep their fingers out of their mouth to reduce germs.

Sometimes lots of handwashing can lead to dry and chapped skin on the hands.  These cracks can let germs enter through the skin, but keeping a hand lotion handy near the soap dish/pump and using a small amount after each washing will keep hands looking better.

For more tips go to Safety tips for Using Public Washrooms and Petting Zoo and Animal Exhibit Safety Tips.

By Maureen Hall.

Our thanks to Safe Kids Canada for some of the information contained in this article and for drawing our attention to this issue.