Method and system for motivating and monitoring hand washing in a food service or related environment

Abstract

Methods, hand wash monitoring system and hand wash hub system for motivating and monitoring compliance of hand washing are disclosed. Hand wash monitoring system detects presence of hands in hand washing sink. Subsequently, hand wash monitoring system initiates countdown of plurality of instructions to be displayed to user for washing hands. Plurality of instructions include wetting hands, applying soap, scrubbing hands, rinsing hands, and drying hands. Each of plurality of instructions is counted for predetermined time period. Hand wash monitoring system further monitors compliance of user following plurality of instructions for washing hands to improve compliance of hand washing with established protocol. In one embodiment, hand wash monitoring system is communicatively coupled with hand wash hub system and attendance monitoring system to display users' hand washing schedule and compliance with established protocol on external display device to get people to wash their hands more frequently and more thoroughly.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of monitoring compliance of hand washing, method comprising:
 detecting, by sensor, presence of hands in hand washing sink;   initiating, by processor, countdown of plurality of instructions to be displayed to user for washing hands upon detecting presence of hands in hand washing sink, wherein plurality of instructions comprise wetting hands, applying soap, scrubbing hands, rinsing hands, and drying hands, and wherein each of plurality of instructions is counted for predetermined time period; and   monitoring, by processor, compliance of user following plurality of instructions for washing hands for improving compliance of hand washing.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein countdown for plurality of instructions is initiated in sequence, in the order:
 wetting hands,   applying soap,   scrubbing hands,   rinsing hands, and   drying hands.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprises monitoring quantity of water dispensed from faucet for each hand wash using faucet generator mounted at faucet. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprises monitoring quantity of soap dispensed for each hand wash from soap dispensing unit. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprises monitoring quantity of paper towel used for drying hands from paper towel dispensing unit. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , before initiating countdown of plurality of instructions to be displayed to user for washing hands, method comprises:
 receiving signal from faucet generator corresponding to water flow rate and temperature of running water from faucet.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising obtaining behaviour analytics corresponding to compliance of users following plurality of instructions for washing hands, method comprises:
 recognizing hand movements of users performing hand wash;   analysing hand movements recognized with predetermined positional relationship of feature points of hand movements; and   obtaining behaviour analytics corresponding to compliance of users following plurality of instructions for washing hands based on analysis.   
     
     
         8 . A method of monitoring and displaying compliance of hand washing by users, method comprising:
 determining, by hand wash hub system, predefined time for each user for washing hands, wherein determining further comprises determining countdown for plurality of instructions to be displayed to user for washing hands, wherein plurality of instructions comprise wetting hands, applying soap, scrubbing hands, rinsing hands, and drying hands, and wherein each of plurality of instructions is counted for a predetermined time period;   monitoring, by hand wash monitoring system, user washing hands at predefined time for checking compliance of user following plurality of instructions for washing hands; and   displaying, by hand wash hub system, compliance of user washing hands on external display device based on monitoring user washing hands for improving compliance of hand washing.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein displaying, by hand wash hub system on external display device, compliance of users washing hands comprises:
 displaying list of users who successfully completed hand wash at predefined time; and/or   displaying list of users who did not wash hands at predefined time.   
     
     
         10 . The hand wash hub system of  claim 9 , wherein display compliance of users washing hands comprises:
 display of users who successfully completed hand wash at predefined time; and/or   display of users who did not wash hands at predefined time.