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With press activity regarding new superbugs Hand Hygien will be on the Agenda again soon – this article was written last year

The current media onslaught surrounding the high profile H1N1 flu strain may in a positive way help to re-emphasise the priority of hand washing and hygiene within the pre-school environment.  All children should be taught to wash their hands properly but as important is whento wash their hands properly!  The danger is that we create a generation of compulsive obsessive children who wash their hands at every turn and never experience the joy of digging in the garden for worms or the delight of eating finger food – hopefully they do not confuse the two but nevertheless children will be children.

ToyGUard use colourful foaming soaps to encourage handwashing as well as free hand wash training for children

It is a concern that protective parents over react to the current situation, which may in turn create paranoia on a grand scale.  Or that unknowingly by letting very young children watch the news they form ideas within their own mind that could create undue worry especially with regard to eating pork or travelling. Children need to be reassured that they and their family are not at risk.

Last year we ran a design a germ competition (in association with Morton Michel and Nursery World) – parents, childminders and day carers all responded very positively – it created a friendly, fun environment to discuss germs, what they might look like (under a microscope) and how they can be spread.  Raising the subject of germs (good and bad!) in a safe trusted environment can be a lot of fun and stand young children in good stead.  A sensible middle ground must be taken stressing that germs can make you ill but can easily be washed away.  For the past 6 months ToyGuard has been carrying out hand wash training within the nursery sector up and down the country.  By using ultra violet light and fluorescent powder we can imitate how germs stick to the skin and how they get in all the hard to reach places like under your nails, between your fingers and around your wrists.  On the ToyGuard website there are free downloadable .pdf’s which you can use to with children of all ages, they can be coloured in, laminated and placed by sinks and toilets. http://www.toyguard.co.uk/resources/nurknowhow.php

Other ways to improve hand hygiene in the nursery

There are some simple things that you can do to make hand washing easy for children.

• Don’t use antibacterial soap – where soap is left on the skin in a diluted form there is most likely to be bacteria too.  This increases the odds of developing resistant strains.
• Use foaming soap – making handwashing fun is half the battle.  Foaming soaps spread easier across the skin covering a much larger surface area much quicker and it uses up to 90% less soap per dose of liquid soap so it saves you money!
• Do not use hand dryers – Electric hand dryers leave bacteria on the hands, and usually leave the hands still moist (how often have you rubbed your hands down your trousers after using one?) and they increase the surface temperature of the skin to perfect growing temperature.
• Use paper towels – the physical action of rubbing the hands with paper removes the soap, the moisture and any dead skin which helps take away the germs food source.  If the issue is paper on the floor or the environment, ToyGuard have developed a paper roller machine that keeps the used towels in separate storage area within the machine.

Hand Sanitisers – to use or not to use?

In the preschool environment alcohol hand gels can give a false sense of security – they are not as good as soap and water (and paper towels).  They certainly can be used as a back up when you have a mild outbreak of something in the nursery, or you are out on a field trip where soap and water might either not be available or ‘a bit iffy’.  Remember that alcohol gels do not kill ‘everything’ i.e. norovirus.  Alcohol gels dissipate very quickly so they need to be used frequently, the alcohol can dry the skin so are unsuitable for eczema sufferers or dry skin conditions.  Look for polymer based hand sanitisers, these will contain ultra low amounts or no alcohol and will last on the skin a lot longer.

This is an editorial piece written for Nursery World.  I post it as there will be a lot more to add soon once I get permission from my client.  The Gloves are off.  The Secret Garden won in the end but Care Commission agrering to overlook the legislation rather than change it for outdoor practice.

The gloves are off.  In one corner we have Health Protection Scotland.  In the other corner is The Secret Garden, a small outdoor nursery that just want to allow children to enjoy all that is great about the outdoors.  In the middle, or more aptly, on the fence, is the Care Commission.  It is a David and Goliath struggle, The Secret Garden have no resources and are relying solely on the endeavours of parents and ‘experts’ to give them support and guidance and most importantly encouragement that they are right to take a stance for what they believe. There is no argument – everyone agrees that hand washing is the best and most practical solution to keeping your hands clean but no one is prepared to accept the responsibility of suggesting a suitable alternative when there is no soap and water for miles around.  Nor will the authorities allow the nursery to conduct its own risk assessment of the potential dangers, even though all parents who send their children to the nursery are made very aware of what the hand hygiene policy is and must sign a disclaimer.

There may well be bigger questions here regarding government funding which cannot be addressed in a few column inches but my feeling is that not everyone is putting all their cards on the table as to why The Secret Garden are being pressured into adopting unworkable and even unsafe practices or worse being forced to close.  Maybe they are just a small pawn within a much bigger game being played out in the upper echelons of endless government cutbacks and funding.  However, over the last few weeks the nursery have become more resolute in their cause, there is a somewhat steely reserve coming to the fore and they realise they are not alone.  Many ‘experts’ have offered support and advice free of charge and further welcome support is coming in from many sources both publicly and privately, all of whom realise the implications are much wider and far reaching than those of a small nursery in the East Neuk of Fife.

An email of encouragement (enquiries@secretgardenoutdoor-nursery.co.uk) or a follow on twitter (@thesecretgardeners) would be very welcome, I’m sure.