It's come to my attention that most of us are not spending enough time when we wash our hands.
Here's a tip to help you. As you wash, sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself twice. If you're going to be doing food preparation, sing it four times.
The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety suggests that you wash your hands:
after using the washroom (includes changing diapers),
before and after eating or handling food,
after touching raw meat, poultry, or fish,
after handling garbage,
visiting sick people,
handling infected animals.
To prevent the spread of germs, avoid touching your eyes, mouth or nose.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control gives these guidelines for hand washing:
First wet your hands and apply liquid or clean bar soap. Place the bar soap on a rack and allow it to drain.
Next rub your hands vigorously together and scrub all surfaces.
Continue for 10 - 15 seconds or about the length of a little tune. It is the soap combined with the scrubbing action that helps dislodge and remove germs.
Rinse well and dry your hands.
Two other suggestions to consider, take off your rings, and be sure to clean them occasionally, and when preparing food, use a one-use, disposible towel or paper towel to dry your hands.
And, I'm sure that my dermatologist, if she read this, would say: USE HAND LOTION if you are washing your hands when you will not be preparing food.