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Hands on Hygiene
Are you the next Mission Clean Hands Champion? Test your hygiene knowledge.
Play Mission Clean Hands. Click onto picture below.
Initial Hygiene and 'Hands on Hygiene'
In 2008, Initial Hygiene in cooperation with the United Nations (UN) launched a major campaign on sanitation aimed at creating more awareness for global sanitation issues with its business communities and with the general public.
The campaign “Hands on Hygiene” reflects Initial Hygiene’s collective efforts to help create a better, safer and cleaner world.
Initial’s announcement came during the UN’s International Year of Sanitation to highlight conditions faced by a third of the world’s population – 2.6 billion people - who have no access to clean water, soap or basic sanitation. The resulting poor hygiene is responsible for millions of deaths, particularly among young children in developing countries every year.
- Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation.
- 2.6 billion people have no access to clean water, soap or basic sanitation.
- 1.8 million people die each year from diarrhoea and over 90 per cent of them are children under five.
- Simple hand hygiene can save lives.
Hands on Hygiene across New Zealand
For the past two years, as part of New Zealand Foodsafe Week, we have gone into schools and conducted hand hygiene programmes to educate young New Zealanders about the importance of hand hygiene - and the big difference it can make to their health.
We’re going back to school.
We’ll be back at schools during New Zealand Foodsafe Week from 9th November to 15th November 2009, to drive home the subject of hand hygiene among kids.
This year, we’re supplying schools with a box of hand sanitizers (12 in each box), posters promoting hand hygiene and holding a competition where students have a chance to win an iPod.
To help get the message through, we’ve unveiled a fun interactive website game called ‘Mission Clean Hands’, aimed at 5 to 10 year olds. Students who complete the game will score a diploma which they can print out for themselves – and learn some very valuable lessons about hand hygiene.
Check out www.missioncleanhands.com/nz and have a go yourself!
COMPETITION DETAILS: We’re turning hand hygiene into art.
20 second wash + 20 second dry = Clean hands!
This year, we’re taking our hand hygiene education in schools two steps further with a Poster Art, Colouring in and Essay competition. As an incentive, students who take part also have a chance to win one of four iPods!
Primary school students
Primary schools students will be invited to call on their artisitic skills and create a poster promoting good hand hygiene. To make sure everyone’s involved, there’ll also be a colouring-in competition. You can choose either competition to enter!
Don’t forget to attach your entry form to your poster art competition!
Poster Art Competition Entry Form
Intermediate school students
Intermediate schools students will be invited to call on their artistic skills and create a poster promoting good hand hygiene.
Or you can express your thoughts by writing a 100 – 150 word essay on ‘Why Hand Hygiene is Important’. You can go to the library, use the computer or talk to your friends, family or teacher to help you write your essay. Why not also visit www.foodsafe.org.nz or www.initialsanitation.com. You can choose either competition to enter!
But don’t forget to attach your entry form to your essay or poster!
Download your Entry Form
Send all your entries to:
Foodsafe Week Competition
c/o Rentokil Initial
Private Bag 92905
Onehunga
Auckland 1643
Attention: Min-Siew Teo
Entries close on Monday 14 December 2009
Any issues downloading your entry forms? Email: min-siew.teo@initial.co.nz and she will send you a copy
Foodsafe Week, 9-15 November 2009.
National Foodsafe Week is run by the New Zealand Foodsafe Partnership, which is made up of representatives from NZFSA, the food industry, and consumer groups.
As part of Foodsafe Week this year, 10,000 primary students around the country will get hands on experience with hand hygiene thanks to Initial Hygiene’s ‘Hands on Hygiene’ programme.
As a Foodsafe partnership member, Initial Hygiene has launched this initiative to teach Kiwi kids about the importance of washing their hands. The nationwide programme will be rolled out to 30 schools around the country.
Other Initial Hygiene initiatives during the week include: competitions, having Foodsafe Freddie the mascot handing out hand sanitisers, and launching an interactive website to help send home the golden rules of food safety in the home – clean, cook, cover, chill – along with the all-important 20/20 hand washing rule.
“We’re going back to school to teach kids how to wash their hands properly to stop the spread of diseases, and also spread the word about the 20/20 rule – washing hands with soap for 20 seconds then drying them for 20 seconds to ensure they are bacteria-free,” says Geoff Polkinghorne, General Manager of Initial Hygiene.
“Hand washing is a bit of a boring subject for kids, so we have come up with a variety of fun, interactive activities to interest and engage them – getting them excited about hand hygiene. Our ‘Hands on Hygiene’ programme is "kid friendly", and speaks to them in a language they understand. This programme will encourage them to remember the important points and hopefully carry on these behaviours into adulthood.”
For more information on the Partnership, visit: www.foodsafe.org.nz.
