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• When should hands be washed
• Upon arrival for the day or when moving from one child care group to another.



• Before and after:
• Eating, handling food, or feeding a child.
• Giving medication.
• Playing in water that is used by more than one person.


• After:
• Diapering.
• Using the toilet or helping a child use a toilet.
• Handling bodily fluid (mucus, blood, vomit), from sneezing, wiping and blowing noses, from mouths, or from sores.
• Handling uncooked food, especially raw meat and poultry.
• Handling pets and other animals.
• Playing in sandboxes.
• Cleaning or handling the garbage.

• Written detail about handwashing procedures

Children and staff members should wash their hands using the following method:


1. Check to be sure a clean, disposable paper (or single-use cloth) towel is available.



2. Turn on warm water, no less than 60 degrees F and no more than 120 degrees F, to a comfortable temperature.



3. Moisten hands with water and apply liquid soap to hands.



4. Rub hands together vigorously until a soapy lather appears, and continue for at least 10 seconds. Rub areas between fingers, around nailbeds, under fingernails, jewelry, and back of hands.



5. Rinse hands under running water, no less than 60 degrees F and no more than 120 degrees F, until they are free of soap and dirt. Leave the water running while drying hands.



6. Dry hands with the clean, disposable paper or single use cloth towel.



7. If taps do not shut off automatically, turn taps off with a disposable paper or single use cloth towel.



8. Throw the disposable paper towel into a lined trash container; or place single-use cloth towels in the laundry hamper; or hang individually labeled cloth towels to dry. Use hand lotion to prevent chapping of hands, if desired.

• Helping children with handwashing
Caregivers should provide assistance with handwashing at a sink for a child who can be safely cradled in one arm and for children who can stand but not wash their hands independently. A child who can stand should either use a child-size sink or stand on a safety step at a height at which the child's hands can hang freely under the running water. After assisting the child with handwashing, the staff member should wash his or her own hands.

If a child is unable to stand and is too heavy to hold safely to wash the hands at the sink, caregivers should use the following method:

• Wipe the child's hands with a damp paper towel moistened with a drop of liquid soap. Then discard the towel.
• Wipe the child's hands with a clean, wet, paper towel until the hands are free of soap. Then discard the towel.
• Dry the child's hands with a clean paper towel.

• Why is handwashing important?


• Handwashing is a very effective method for reducing the spread of illness and infections in child care facilities.

• Use of Hand Sanitizers (Child Care Information Exchange Article)