For healthcare workers, few things are more essential than hand hygiene. Whether you’re working in hospital, aged care or community health, it’s vital you and your staff stay protected, as far as possible, from unwittingly picking up and passing on germs via the hands.

Kwikmaster Professional’s new hand care range is designed to eliminate germs before you can spread them to surfaces, food or other people. The knowledge that germs can be transmitted this way is — surprisingly — relatively recent. The first physician to publicly theorise that handwashing could reduce the risk of infection was the Hungarian Ignaz Semmelweis, working in a hospital in Vienna in the 1840s. Sadly, Semmelweis’ advice wasn’t only ignored, he was ridiculed for suggesting it.

It took another 40 years, following advances in medical research from the likes of Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister and Robert Koch, for handwashing to be universally practised in hospitals, before becoming widespread among the general public at the start of the 20th century. Today, it is viewed as an essential tool in stopping the spread of infectious diseases, as soap and sanitisers will help remove viruses, bacteria and microorganisms from the skin. The World Health Organisation even introduced a ‘5 Moments of Hand Hygiene’ guide in 2009 to remind healthcare workers when they should wash their hands. They included the moments before touching a patient, before a procedure, after a procedure or exposure to bodily fluids, after touching a patient and after touching a patient’s surroundings.

In line with this guide, Kwikmaster Professional’s range offers a selection of products to suit your needs, from an antibacterial handwash and an antibacterial hand soap to a liquid sanitiser, hair and body wash, liquid soap and a rinse-free sanitiser. All the products are designed to target dirt and grease for the professional healthcare worker, ensuring your hand hygiene will be the last thing you need to worry about when next seeing a patient.