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12 Tue

Fist bump for the workplace

Fist bump for the workplace

Written by: Paul Kochoa, PT, DPT, OCS, CKTP, CGFI

After reading this, you might want to rethink your business handshake and change it to a business fist bump.  A New York Times article wrote about a study in the American Journal of Infection Control that looked at the amount of bacteria and infectious material transmitted via a handshake.

They had a glove dipped in bacteria and measured the amount of bacteria transmitted to another sterile glove during a handshake, a high five, or a fist bump.  The researchers found that the fist bump transmitted the least amount of bacteria from the dirty glove to the sterile glove.

Working in the healthcare industry, especially in a hospital, nosocomial illnesses were a big concern.  Antibacterial foam and wipes were available everywhere.  But what about in the workplace?  I’ve seen my fair share of patients that come in to the clinic and are feeling sick.  If I consider it bad, I send them home.  Rest is probably more important than a session with a physio.

I’ve considered also adding the fist bump instead of the handshake to keep the transmission of bacteria down.  But I think that the universal acceptance to something like this is still pretty low.  Perhaps more coverage of the fist bump like the NY Times article can improve the public perception of the fist bump from just a frat house greeting to an acceptable business interaction.

Instead of “shaking” on it, maybe we’ll just “bump” on it…

What do you think?

 

Image courtesy of Pong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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