Hand sanitizer and hand-hygiene education reduces absenteeism rates

AKRON, Ohio — Using an alcohol-based sanitizer combined with hand hygiene education will contribute to a significant reduction in absenteeism over the cough/cold season, GoJo announced Tuesday. 

 "The two measures of using Purell hand sanitizer and hand hygiene education led to 20% reduction in absenteeism in a workplace setting and 50% reduction in absenteeism in schools," Jim Arbogast, GoJo scientist stated. "These results point to the attention that must be paid to good hand hygiene throughout the day, at home, at work, at school and especially in public areas where people congregate." 

"Following an annual flu vaccine, effective hand hygiene is the most important step to help reduce the spread of infections that cause illness," Marla Dalton, executive director at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases said on reducing flu. "This has been well documented by microbiologists and scientists."

GoJo is providing information and education on its GoJo web site to help businesses promote hand hygiene as a wellness initiative.