November 09

As the winter months approach and the prospect of colds, viruses and winter vomiting bugs loom, schools may start reaching deep into their financial pockets as the cost of a season of illness starts to hit home. 11.7 million school days were lost in the Spring term due to illness, and the disruption and costs incurred to keep classes covered when staff are taken ill seem unavoidable.

In the grip of the swine flu outbreak last year many schools were brought to a standstill and were forced to close, a situation which many will want to avoid this time around. Although the threat of swine flu may have subsided there are always new infection threats ready to hit schools. The school environment is key to the chain of infection, with its high physical contact rate and number of people moving from place to place on a regular basis. Dr Ron Cutler, Deputy Director of Biomedical Science at Queen Mary, University of London comments;

“Every year we have a new strain of influenza coming along and people with lower immune systems are at risk. Currently a major threat to the school environment is the norovirus as it quickly spreads from skin-to-skin contact and a lot of the time children who have had sickness return to school before the virus is out of their system (two days). Respiratory viruses such as swine flu and the common cold will also continue to be prevalent. We can expect to see community acquired strains of MRSA become a problem to schools, as well as communities. The US is currently experiencing significant outbreaks and with global travel a common occurrence the virus has a simple channel back over the ocean.”

So what measures can schools take to protect themselves, their pupils and staff from infection outbreaks this year and how costly will it be?

Managing Hygiene

Effective hygiene management in schools will assist in breaking the chain of infection. It will provide savings for schools which invest in a preventative infection control programme. New practices which are hygienically effective can cut the number of schools days lost to illness which in turn provides a cost saving.

New build schools are taking time to choose the right facilities to ensure they have a healthy future ahead of them. Ark Academy in Wembley was keen to get their school off to a good start and saw their hygiene management as key to this. They installed the most efficient hand drying systems, which not only reduce the carbon footprint of the school but also provide cost savings over buying paper towels. Primary School Headteacher, Ms Jacqueline Steele, commented;

“From day one of the Academy opening we wanted to ensure that the importance of good hygiene is conveyed to the children every day and we take our responsibilities in this area very seriously. We hope that by ensuring hygiene is top of the agenda from the first day of school that we can reduce the risk of infection and keep the school a healthy environment for the children.”

Making the Grade

New facilities are a great start to a hygiene management programme, raising the profile of hygiene in school and creating an opportunity for pupils to become engaged with their own health management.

Research commissioned by ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence) as part of the Bog Standard campaign, found that 62% of schools had complaints from their pupils about the state of their toilets. Poor standards of facilities, lack of toilet paper and smelly conveniences were top of the complaints listed. 13% of schools stated that cubicles had missing locks and lacked sufficient supplies of soap and 1 in 10 admitted there was no toilet paper.

Poor facilities are unlikely to encourage pupils to engage in good hygiene practice whereas newer well maintained facilities are much more likely to promote disciplined hand washing and drying which can be the first barrier to contact related viruses, such as norovirus.

Older washrooms can also be costly for schools that need to maintain high standards of cleanliness with old facilities. Retro-fitted appliances can be simply installed to reduce carbon footprint and save money. One school, Harefield Academy, saved £13,000 a year and cut their water wastage after they upgraded their hand drying facilities and flushing urinals. 

Hidden Dangers

It is not only the washrooms which pose a threat to school health. Kitchens where food preparation takes place, school halls and the school gyms are all hot spots for the spread of infection and need tackling along with educating pupils and staff about appropriate hygiene measures.

The Department of Health has shown their concern and commitment to schools by part funding (25%) the appointment of a microbiologist post graduate through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) for Albany Healthy Schools with Queen Mary, University of London. The KTP Associate will dedicate their time to scientific research to develop hygiene best practice to prevent infection outbreak in schools, hospitals and other public places.

A Helping Hand

Although an overhaul of all school washrooms would be a great start to a hygiene programme in any school, it is not always a feasible option. However, some steps can be taken without incurring a cost and can put a school community on the right road to health management.

• Education: Educate pupils and staff about correct hand cleaning technique, this can cut the spread of infection immediately.

• Cleaning: Deep clean kitchens and food preparation areas maintaining their hygiene levels to prevent hygiene breaches.

• Maintenance: Regularly clean toilets and ensure there are the appropriate facilities to clean hands.

• Incubation periods: Enforce stringent rules encouraging parents/carers not to return ill children to school before the incubation period for their illness is over.

• Infection Control Policy: Implement an infection control policy to encourage all members of the school community to have hygiene front of mind.

• Hygiene Guardian: Assign a dedicated person who will be responsible for infection control and hygiene management across the school, ensuring a holistic approach to school hygiene and infection control.

The Way Forward

Schools face an increasing challenge to achieve high hygiene standards within the school environment. The need to create a healthy and safe place to learn is paramount and a key objective of school staff. Barriers to this goal such as insufficient hygiene awareness amongst pupils, old washroom facilities and daunting cleaning responsibilities for staff, are areas which can benefit from external support and advice.

In essence, the task is to enforce simple measures for safer schools, and hygiene management does not need to come at an unreachable cost. Some investment in new technologies, alongside educating the school community about hand hygiene, and supporting cleaning staff in their role can get a school on the right track to effective hygiene management.