Washing your hands regularly with soap and water is an effective and easy way of reducing the risk of people falling ill with COVID-19, influenzas or a cold, or contracting other viral illnesses. Stickers and posters were developed focusing on reframing, nudging and habit stacking. Displaying the posters in the office environment led to an increase in handwashing amongst employees. Soap consumption went up.

Why this experiment was conducted: improved hygiene standards in the workplace is the goal
Following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, office work has resumed with increased regularity. Good hygiene practices are essential in safeguarding individuals from contracting viral illnesses, including coronavirus, influenzas and the common cold. Washing your hands with soap and water is an effective and easy way of reducing the risk of falling ill. Research shows that over 80% of Dutch citizens have a positive perception of handwashing. The percentage of people that actually wash their hands sufficiently is much lower. The Ministry of Justice and Security and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport joined with RIVM to launch an experiment aimed at promoting this practice.

Types of intervention: posters in the building, stickers in the pantry and near the toilets
Three types of intervention were developed:
• stickers in the pantry aimed at 'habit stacking': this involves linking the existing habit of getting something to drink with a new habit of handwashing. This makes it easier to adopt this new habit;
• stickers near the door to the toilets, aimed at nudging.
• a poster campaign on one floor of the office building, aimed at encouraging and mentally facilitating. Handwashing was reframed and linked to positive existing behaviours and associations such as: at long last, we can get back to working together in the office and having lunch together.

Method used: baseline measurement and follow-up measurement
The research design included four test conditions: three with the three intervention types separately and one with the three intervention types simultaneously. These were applied in an office building in four different departments with minimal traffic between them. Next, soap consumption was measured. The follow-up measurement was preceded by a baseline measurement. Both measurements were performed on the same three weekdays during two consecutive weeks, with similar office occupancy. Employees were also asked to fill in a questionnaire so as to gain qualitative insight into their perceptions of the interventions.

Result obtained: soap usage increased by two-thirds
Soap usage increased the most in the condition where only posters were used: over 1.5 times increased soap usage per person (+165%). Soap usage also increased significantly in the condition including the stickers near the toilets (+62%, similar to the condition with all interventions). The increase was smallest in the case of stickers in the pantry (+9.9%). Average soap usage per person increased by 66.5% after the interventions were implemented.

Impact: rapid effect
The project demonstrates that reframing, nudging and habit stacking can lead to a significant increase in handwashing with soap and water in the office environment. Based on the results, it is recommended that the posters and nudging stickers be used near toilets. The behavioural effect is quick to materialise. It remains unclear how long the behavioural effect lasts, since this has not been studied. The interventions would thus seem to be an effective tool to achieve significant behavioural change within a short timeframe. These interventions have yet to be applied more widely in central government buildings and other official buildings and offices, although there is considerable potential for doing so. Furthermore, it seems appropriate to execute them at times when pathogens are more widespread or active, such as in the autumn.

Source: https://www.binnl.nl/home+-+en/knowledge/publications/bin+nl+publications/HandlerDownloadFiles.ashx?idnv=2719979