Bonus Episode – Colour-Changing Hand Sanitizer Concept

In this episode, host Wayne Tucker (MSc, EMBA, CIC, LTC-CIP) walks through the early development of a new colour-changing hand sanitizer designed to make hand hygiene more visible, teachable, and reliable in real-world settings.

Instead of focusing on dispensers or hardware, this product concept centers on what happens after the sanitizer is applied. The formulation temporarily changes colour on the hands, helping the user see which areas were well covered — and which were missed. This has potential applications in staff education, resident and patient engagement, audits, and real-time feedback on hand hygiene technique.

Wayne discusses:
• The problem of “invisible” hand hygiene and risks associated with missed areas (current frontline practice)
• How a colour-changing sanitizer could support training and daily frontline practice
• Potential use in any healthcare setting, including long-term care and acute care.

• Product development has global implications that could significantly transform the hand sanitizer industry.

• Early considerations for formulation, safety, and usability
• Next steps in moving this concept toward testing and development are support through partnerships and collaborations. Need to create a prototype that can be tested in the field at a limited number of healthcare settings.

This short episode provides a focused look at one hand hygiene innovation and the thinking behind turning a simple idea into a practical infection-prevention tool that can significantly reduce the transmission of infectious diseases by showing staff the areas they miss when applying hand sanitizer.

• Hand Hygiene

• Infection Prevention

  Infection Control

  IPAC

  Healthcare innovation

• Product development

  Infection Control Exchange

Hand Sanitizer