CHECKLIST 5
ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE
THE ‘F’ ROUTES OF FECES CONTAMINATION
FEET walking in places where people defecate will carry it into a house/
school
FLIES land on feces, then land on uncovered food
FINGERS touch feces when cleaning after defecation, then touch food or
other people
FLUIDS: Runoff from fields and open defecation spots can go into streams
where people get water; drinking water is stored unsafely and gets
contaminated
FOOD: can be contaminated by unwashed hands or by flies landing on it
Source: http://www.helioz.org/Home/WADISupport/WASHInstructions.aspx
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CHECKLIST 5
Possible Prevention Behaviors
• Proper latrine/ urinals construction and use
• Proper hand washing with soap/ash after defecation
• Proper drinking water treatment and storage
• School compound sanitation, drainage, and proper waste management
• Proper washing of raw fruits and vegetables
• Proper washing and storage of food utensils
• Hand washing with soap before preparing and eating food
• Practicing good hygiene
How to wash your hands with soap
Source: UNICEF, 2009
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CHECKLIST 5
Safe handling of drinking water
 Source of water should be free from contamination
 Water fetching containers should be washed, scrubbed, rinsed with clean
water and dried in the sun before use
 Cover the water containers at all times including during transporting water
 Water should be stored in containers with a hard cover or screw cap
 Water should be served using ladles with long handles or taps
 Hands should be clean before handling ladle and fingers should not dip into
water
 Drinking vessel/ glass should preferably not be shared. If you share your
glass, you share your germs.
Safe handling of food
 Food handling and preparation must be done with utmost cleanliness
 All food handlers should remain clean, wear washed clothes and keep their
finger nails trimmed, clean and wash their hands with soap/ detergent and
water before commencing work and every time after touching, raw or
contaminated food or using toilet.
 If cooks or helpers are suffering from any disease likely to be transmitted via
food, e.g. diarrhoea or vomiting, infected wounds like, skin infections,
jaundice or sores, they should report to their supervisor.
 Cooks and helpers should avoid touching or scratching their face, head or
hair while handling food
 Chewing, smoking, spitting and nose blowing should be prohibited within
the premises especially while handling food.
 To avoid food contamination through transfer of bacteria, cooks and helpers
should wash their hands after coughing / sneezing, visiting toilet, using
telephone, smoking etc;
 They should avoid certain hand habits - e.g. scratching nose, running finger
through hair, rubbing eyes, ears and mouth, scratching beard, scratching
parts of bodies etc. during handling of food.
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CHECKLIST 5
Handwashing for Children
 Hand wash with soap before and after eating should be vigorously promoted
in schools
 A dedicated time must be allowed within the daily time table for all children,
cooks and teachers in the school to wash their hands with soap.
 The hand washing of the children should be supervised and monitored
vigorously
 The schools may identify an area for hand washing where very simple
scalable and cost effective multiple hand washing facilities can be installed
to be used by large groups of children at a time.
Personal hygiene – bathing, nails, brushing, combing, hair, footwear etc
Children must be taught to follow good personal hygiene behaviors such as:
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washing hands with soap at critical times
wearing shoes or slippers especially when using toilet
cutting nails regularly
brushing teeth everyday
combing hair
regular washing of body and hair
wearing clean and washed clothing
Toilet usage
Every school must provide water for toilet use and soap for washing hands after
use. A toilet brush must be made available for students to clean after themselves.
Note: If running water is not available, a water drum or small storage tank maybe provided close
to the toilet along with a bucket and mug to carry water.
Student must be taught the following steps for appropriate usage and upkeep of
toilets:
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CHECKLIST 5
1. Before using the toilet, students should make sure water is available
(In case of younger children, an adult or a senior student can help them carry
water to the toilet)
2. The toilet pan must be made wet by pouring a little water before use. This is
to make cleaning easy afterwards.
3. Squat in the right direction on the pan to defecate
4. After use, pour enough water in the pan until any remnants of feces are gone
5. Use toilet brush to clean any remaining visible feces
6. Wash hands with soap
Menstrual Hygiene
Every school must ensure that the following facilities are provided to their girl
students to help manage their menstruation at school, safely and comfortably:
1. Water should be made available to wash themselves
2. Toilets should have enough space and privacy for girls and women to
change
3. Covered dustbins must be made available in the toilets to dispose off the
used napkins (Girl students could be asked to wrap their used napkins in
paper before disposing, to reduce odor in the toilets).
4. School must arrange for safe disposal of the used napkins. An incinerator
may be constructed in schools with large number of girl students.
5. Schools must keep stock of atleast 1 pack/ 10 napkins for emergency
6. A female teacher or a senior girl student can be made in charge of
dispensing these napkins.
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