Public health advice falls on deaf ears, with the majority of men still not washing their hands properly
The latest research by Just Sanitise has shown that men are still not washing their hands well enough to halt the spread of Covid-19.
4 in 5 of all males especially in the 25-44-year-old age range still do not take the public health advice seriously when it comes to this form of hygiene. Hand washing became the key to stopping the spread of Covid-19 and a simple way to keep everyone safer from the highly contagious virus.
Singing two verses of “Happy Birthday’” was devised as an easy way to time how long hands should be washed to make sure they were germ and virus free. However, a survey of 1,500 adults in the UK, men aged 35-44 in England showed this group to be unlikely to use this timing method whilst hand washing.
Welsh men of any age were the most hygienic, with 95% of all those surveyed washing for more than 20 seconds. Unfortunately, it was English men who bought the average down, with 1 in 5 avoiding the advised wash time.
Women nationwide tended to wash their hands for the full 20 seconds, and this did not alter across the different regions.
Possibly understandably, the higher risk age group of women over the age of 65 proved to be the most hygiene-conscious hand washers, with 95% of all those asked adhering to the full 20 seconds.
Just Sanitise, who commissioned the research, is an alliance of businesses based in Aberdeen, manufacturing 80% alcohol hand sanitiser spray that kills bacteria and is effective against viruses, including the human coronavirus. Its hand sanitiser passed a BS EN 14476 test that shows it takes two minutes to be effective against coronavirus.
The alliance has been helping address the supply and demand issue for effective bacteria and virus-killing sanitiser across both the public and private sector.
Central to Government advice at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock implored the nation to wash their hands more often, washing for 20 seconds, using soap and water or hand sanitiser. He said that washing hands regularly is imperative to protect against Covid-19.
Nicola Hartland, Co-founder and CEO of sanitiser firm Just Sanitise, explained:
“With such high profile, Government-led campaigning to help the UK fight Covid-19, it came as something as a surprise to see such high rates of non-adherence to such important guidance.
“The recent clusters in Leicester, areas of the North West of England, as well as Aberdeen, have been a massive blow for the economy, particularly for the hospitality, leisure and hair and beauty sectors, but it has also been a wake-up call that the health, safety and protection of staff and customers must be a priority as we continue to fight this ongoing battle with a deadly virus and it’s crucial that businesses invest in the most effective PPE.
“We are currently working with businesses and community group across lockdown areas, providing sanitiser donations, helping them during the current restrictions and supporting them for eventual reopening.”
For more information contact Katharine McNamara at Katharine@justsanitise.com or 07966 505661
Notes to editors
Research was undertaken via Google Surveys on 11th August 2020 with a sample size of 1,500.
Handwashing split by gender and age – UK sample
| Spend less than 20 seconds washing hands | ||
| Age | Men | Women |
| 18-24 | 17.5% | 17.0% |
| 25-34 | 22.1% | 12.8% |
| 35-44 | 23.5% | 10.3% |
| 45-54 | 15.5% | 12.5% |
| 55-64 | 18.6% | 10.6% |
| 65+ | 17.8% | 5.1% |
Handwashing split by gender and nation – UK sample
| Spend less than 20 seconds washing hands | ||
| Nation | Men | Women |
| England | 20.2% | 12.0% |
| Scotland | 16.9% | 10.9% |
| Wales | 5.1% | 12.9% |
| N Ireland | 19.2% | 12.7% |
**Additional age and regional breakdowns are available on request.
About Just Sanitise
Just Sanitise is working to support the UK against COVID-19. The experienced team with a diverse skillset and towering ambitions, believes it can play a major role helping the UK emerge from the pandemic stronger and better prepared.
Just Sanitise is a BS EN1276, EN13697, EN14476 and EN1500 certified, powerful, and quick drying liquid hand sanitiser spray. It kills 99.999% of bacteria and is effective against viruses including human coronavirus.
The ongoing supply and demand issues with hand sanitisers had driven prices to unnecessary highs and left those most in need, dangerously exposed.
Just Sanitise wanted to help the situation, and so an alliance of business leaders came together and founded the organisation.
Based in the heart of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the company is working to provide the nation with vast quantities of our fast-acting, quick drying, WHO-approved hand sanitiser, while driving down costs for customers.
They possess a state-of-the-art production and bottling facilities and a 24/7 distribution network, powered by a team of team of 50 people and a fleet of 33 vehicles with 42 trailers
