“Health care acquired infections are a major concern for consumers particularly for older people and other vulnerable groups” says CFA representative Debra O’Connor referring to the recently published AS 1071 Placement and presentation of hand hygiene materials in health care settings . “This practical standard will contribute to the improvement of hand hygiene, an essential component of prevention and should inform practice across all health care settings”
Debra is the CFA representative on the Standards Australia Technical Committee SF-021 Human Factors which prepared the new standard over the past two years. This committee has representatives from industry associations, medical associations, educational institutes, and interest groups for safety and ergonomics.
The objective of the standard is to reduce disease and death resulting from health care associated infections; reduce waste of solutions from incorrect use; and improve hand hygiene by reducing errors in hand hygiene practices associated with choice and use of products
Effective Hand Hygiene is the single most important strategy in preventing health care associated infections. The Australian Commission on Quality and Safety in Health Care (ACSQHC) has engaged Hand Hygiene Australia (HHA) to implement the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI).
CFA provides volunteer representatives on Standards Australia Technical Committees as part of the CFA Standards Project; if you are interested in finding out more about the Project and/or becoming a volunteer CFA Standards Representative please contact the Standards Coordinator standards@consumeraction.org.au