WHO Hand Hygiene Day 2026: Action Saves Lives
Every year on May 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) leads the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hand campaign to highlight one of the simplest yet most important health actions, cleaning our hands properly.
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The EN 455 series of Standards specifies the requirements that single-use gloves should meet to be used in medical applications, ensuring their safety and effectiveness for both patient and user. Compliance to the EN 455 Standards brings a presumption of conformity of the glove to the applicable Legislation in the EU (Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745).
To comply with EN 455, gloves must pass different tests to ensure they act as a barrier against microorganisms, perform effectively without breaking, and are biologically safe for the healthcare and patient alike; all this throughout their entire shelf life. These tests include:
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Freedom from Holes, which uses a water leak test that is carried out using AQL, a statistical sampling method.
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Physical properties, where dimensions (length & width) and force at break before and after heat ageing are tested.
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Biological Safety, which involves test procedures for measuring powder residues in powderfree gloves, leachable proteins in natural rubber latex gloves and possible endotoxin contamination of sterile gloves.
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Shelf life Study, with a protocol to be followed to evaluate the gloves shelf life by using real time studies or a suitably validated alternative.
On 23rd September 2023, a new revision of EN 455-3:2015 was approved at EU level and subsequently endorsed by all EU Member States by 29th May 2024. Updates include:
Every year on May 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) leads the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hand campaign to highlight one of the simplest yet most important health actions, cleaning our hands properly.
Double materiality captures both how sustainability issues affect a company’s financial health and how its operations impact society and the environment. As it becomes a regulatory imperative under the EU’s CSRD, organisations must prepare to integrate both perspectives into their reporting and strategy.
Every year, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) marks Time Out Day as a powerful reminder of the vital role surgical safety plays in healthcare. On June 12, 2025, perioperative professionals across the country will again reaffirm their commitment to one of the most critical steps in the surgical process: the time out.
