Design and Development of an Automated Monitored Hand Hygiene System to Curb Infection Spread in Institutional Settings during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Considering the current scenario of Coronavirus outbreak and the post-pandemic situation, the need of a robust hand hygiene program assumes utmost importance, particularly in institutional settings such as education and healthcare. As different nations all across the globe lift the lockdown restrictions and as life springs back to normalcy, organizations, in order to quell the apprehensions and concerns of its workers, may have to institute newer paradigms to curb infection and generate awareness. Prior reported research shows that although an adequately designed health hygiene system may be helpful in curbing the infection spread, a major issue stems from the lack of adherence, by a section of individuals in any institution. In such a situation, it becomes absolutely imperative to track the compliance by different individuals, so that educational interventions may be targeted for the concerned group of workers. Further, currently, no low-cost compact systems exist that can provide for the hand hygiene requirements for a group of people, which are “touch-free”, automated and which are monitored. To bridge this gap, we propose the design and development of an automated monitored hand hygiene system to curb infection spread in institutional settings. It is designed in such a way that it would provide for hand sanitization of four people at a time per machine, simultaneously ensuring social distancing between them. The proposed product will not only reduce the apprehensions of the workers in an institutions by providing for solutions to curb infection spread, but will also be economical and aesthetically compact to be deployed at multiple locations within an organization, thus providing for a much safer workplace during the post-lockdown phase.