Washing Hands After Using the Restroom

EEEWWWW! Maybe I'm putting more thought into this but what Jen C said really makes no sense. You said 9 out of 10 wash their hands..... The person who did go poop, didn't wash their hands then touched the stall handle right??....Isn't the person who only peed touching that same stall stall handle and then neither wash their hands? It's a vicious cycle!!! It takes everyone to wash their hands in IMO otherwise it just spreads around everywhere. I'm grossed out by that too!!!

I am probably weird but it bothers me more when women are on the phone. I think that is SO incredibly nasty, trashy and rude. I don't feel like having my privacy violated when I am on the toilet. I deliberately flush the toilet over and over when someone is in there on the phone.

As to the not washing hands.. Maybe they don't wipe - so no dirty hands. (LOL I know, gross.. just had to!)

It is preferable to practice good hygiene, but unless they peed directly on their hand I really think you may be over reacting. Urine is sterile, it is only fecal matter that can carry sickness causing bacteria, so if they peed only and did not get it on their hands they may see no need in using skin drying soap several times a day.

I agree that it's GROSS.

However, it's like that everywhere and we haven't died yet.

There are so many germs everywhere we go that you'd basically have to walk around in a bubble not to come into contact with them. Did you know that when you smell something you are actually getting little bits of that substance that's airborne in your body? So when you smell poop...you guessed it. You are getting tiny bits of airborne poop in your nose! That's disgusting too!

Just keep some hand sanitizer at your desk and don't put your fingers in your mouth. If you take basic precautions you'll be fine.

Besides, it gives your immune system something to do LOL!

I have to agree with Jen C. about urine being sterile. I was surprised when my son was born a few years ago and I learned that many people don't use wipes on babies if they only have a wet (not messy) diaper! The alcohol and other stuff in the wipes is harsher on their skin than the urine. No powder, either, because it's bad for their lungs. I tried it and we've had no ill effects, hardly any diaper rash ever (son is almost 4 now and potty-trained for a while).

What bothers me more is the thought of guys not even wiping - I had that debate with my husband when we potty-trained our son. He REFUSES to let our son be a "dabber". I insist that at least he wipe the rim of the toilet if he drips. And my hubby has been good about teaching the little guy to put the seat and lid back down, QUIETLY.

Back to hand washing, some of the soap in commercial restrooms is terrible on your hands. I prefer moisturizing hand sanitizer and have some with me all the time. Although I don't really like the proliferation of antibacterial products everywhere. I think it is contributing to bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Also, it helps you keep a strong immune system to have some exposure to everyday germs.

That said, there is one strain of hepatitis that is transmitted by having fecal material on your hands (such as not washing after the bathroom). Of course, some other nasty things as well (E. coli for instance). And if you don't know if other people have washed their hands, those kinds of germs could be on the door handle even if you didn't get anything on yourself when you went. So another rationale for hand washing is that bathrooms can just be germ-y places, regardless of how clean YOU are.

So even though I lean more toward Jen C's perspective, I have to agree that you are probably in the majority with your opinion. Unfortunately, public restrooms gross people out in general and that could be part of why they hesitate to wash in dirty sinks... there is just no way to win this one.

Ok a few thoughts--I ABSOLUTELY agree that it is disgusting to not wash hands after using the bathroom.

Yes, urine is sterile, but if the person wiped themselves, what are the chances that their hand might have come in contact with their nether region? Who knows what lurks down there...yeast, STDs, traces of fecal matter. Doesn't matter if you're just peeing or did a #2...WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS!!

At my old job a few of my co-workers and I made some signs--nothing official looking, because those will be ignored, but hand drawn, with a cute poem about bathroom hygiene (I wish I could recall what it said). We put one on the inside of every stall. Maybe you won't see any improvement in hand washing, but at least you'll have given yourself a good chuckle and done your best.

I have to be honest - yes, I think it's gross, and no, I've never really noticed. I don't really watch others in the bathroom to see how they're handling themselves, unless they are behaving really oddly.

I remember asking someone about it once (I had just seen her do it, but she didn't know) and was told, maybe they went back to their desk and got sanitizer. Really!?! I don't think so! I do the paper towel all the way back to my desk and then use sanitizer throughout the day. I don't know why people don't wash their hands, but I find it really gross, and ignore those that look at me funny as I carry around my paper towel.

Yeah, it is gross, but you can't change the habits of strangers. I wash my hands and like your kids, my kids do it without being told, that is the best we could do. As far as dirty hands in the pretzel bowl, I don't eat food that is set out for "who ever" to dip their hands in and eat. I don't eat at buffets either, now those are gross, imagine all the bacteria on the handle of those spoons used to serve the food (all those people who just used the bathroom and did not wash their hands helping themselves at a buffet, gross). Or the man that had an itch you know where, before he reached for the spoon! Also, I have seen people who are shorter than the buffet shield reaching over the food and I have even seen a lady in a wheelchair, whose head was below the buffet shield, sneeze on the food. That was at the hospital that I work at.

Just be aware, wash your hands after using the bathroom and before you eat and stay away from buffets and self serve food and bowls of pretzels left out for anyone to reach into and you will be fine.

PS: I just want to add that urine is only sterile while it is in the bladder. As soon as it leaves the bladder it is contaminated.

I don't work in an office environment..but this is my take on public restrooms. You do your business (and lets not forget the menstruating population)...then you wipe..then you use those hands to flush the toilet (I use my foot..ALWAYS)..then they use those same hands to open the stall door...then those hands turn the sink on....that whole process BEFORE your hands get to the soap and water disgusts me like you can not imagine!

I carry hand sanitizer and use it after I have used my foot to flush...before I leave the stall..and I always have toilet paper in my hand to open the stall door...just a small amount to get me outta there.

Public restrooms generally gross me out and I avoid them if I can..but as I said..I don't work in an office (I do Home Childcare).

Although I am not afraid of germs, I do wash my hands each time I use the restroom, before I cook dinner, while I am cooking dinner and handling raw things, etc. I also flush the toilet with my foot in public restrooms...I use my elbow or knee to push the door open on the way out...wait. Maybe I am afraid of germs. :-)

ugh so gross.. You are not a germphobe.. we are hand washer too.. just a thought confidentally bring it up to your boss.. maybe the work place could laminate and place signs on the mirors or on the doors of the bathroom stalls..
Lenc

Urine might be sterile most of the time, but it's not if a urinary tract infection is involved. People should wash up. But you can't force them. You'll have to go around wiping the office up with disinfectant wipes or maybe voice your concerns to HR so they can do a little course in office hygiene. When places were panicking over H1N1, lot's of hand washing signs went up. Perhaps you can approach it from that angle.

Some public restrooms are scary but I still wash my hands no matter what. I don't understand how people can feel comfortable not doing so. Automatic faucets/soap dispensers etc are great, but if they are not available, I sometimes pour soapy water over the faucet handles, or use a paper towel to turn off the faucet (if I can get a paper towel without touching questionable places).

We have automatic toilets that flush without pressing a button at my workplace, which is great. Maybe you could lobby for having automatic toilets, soap and towel dispensers at your office toilets. It may encourage more people to wash hands... There is also something called "clean escape" which enables you to open the door with your foot to leave the restroom.

I totally agree wuth you , it is disgusting!....I ALWAYS wash my hands after I have been to the bathroom , my kids aswell , I have hand soap in every room with a sink in my house. In my bag I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer because sometimes the sinks in public restooms are A) Disgusting & B) too high for the kids , so we use the sanitizer instead. Some people are just gross!

I don't think people pay attention to signs or care, so the signs probably wouldn't help. Some people have good hygiene and some just don't seem to care. It bothers me too. I am disgusted when I see women not washing their hands and leaving a restroom. I mean, your hands have been near your crotch and anus, why would you not wash them? I too make my kids wash their hands after using the restroom. Keep up the hand washing and just know that you are not alone in your disdain for disgusting people!

It bothers me too. But you can't control what other people do. Are there signs in your work restrooms? If not, print some out from the internet and tape them up!

Yup, it bothers me. I also know there is almost never anything I can do about it, other than take care.

You may notice that many public restrooms place a trash can near the door, enabling employees and other users to open the door with the towel they used to dry their clean hands, and toss the towel on their way out.

That takes care of the restroom door handle, but there are countless other places where we don't know who touched what. Somehow, life mostly goes on for most of us. Germs build our immune systems. It may help to know that most germs have a fairly short life on most surfaces. Hours, or a day at most.

But in the case of the Coughing CoWorker, you might have a stock comment handy, like, "Corrine, how generous of you to share your cold with those pretzels!" Or even a shocked, wide-eyed, "Corrine, I can't believe you just grabbed the communal pretzels with your sneezy fingers!" If you keep statements like that about the actual behavior, and not a judgement of the perpetrator's habits and value as a person, your willingness to speak up may make a difference. At least for that one person.