{"id":4918,"date":"2025-08-19T13:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.initial.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4918"},"modified":"2025-09-02T08:55:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T08:55:33","slug":"hand-hygiene-in-the-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.initial.co.uk\/blog\/hand-hygiene-in-the-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"Hand hygiene in the laboratory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many aspects of laboratory work require a sterile space, or a controlled risk of contamination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be achieved with well organised infection control procedures, including a good understanding of hand hygiene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is sterility?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not all laboratories need to be sterile, but avoiding contamination is imperative when testing items, or preparing products for other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sterility is defined by the World Health Organisation<\/a> (WHO) as freedom from the presence of viable microorganisms. This isn\u2019t always possible, as this can affect the viability of products in the laboratory, so an alternative definition is the risk of contamination with replicating microorganisms being less than one in one million.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In laboratories where sterile spaces are not required, minimising cross contamination is still imperative to protect technicians and people who interact with the products in the future. Making effective changes begins with identifying sources of contamination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Close-up<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Sources of laboratory contamination<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Contamination is the introduction of foreign objects, in this case microorganisms, to a new space. In the laboratory this could come from, but is not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n