
There are mandatory requirements that should be followed for proper handwashing, often specific to the industry or context. However, to a large extent the state of the art relies solely upon employee training and hand written policies. State of the art approaches for monitoring include identifying personnel who are assigned to perform a task together with operation of various tools used in the task performance. An employee badge can be used to determine whether assigned personnel are located in the vicinity of the required tools and serve as an indirect indicator that the assigned personnel used the tools to complete the task such as when a badge is detected near a handwashing station. However, this simply confirms presence and does not address actual compliance with a handwashing procedure. Furthermore, wearable identification devices such as badges can themselves be sources of contamination or other process compromise.Essentially, Disney's fix relies on more thorough monitoring. When it comes to washing their hands, workers would be identified using data obtained from "a non-contact or minimal contact biometric sensor, palm/fingerprint reader and the like located at a sink of a handwashing station."


For example, if the system determines that a lab technician has failed to comply with a compliance step of disposing of lab gear that may have been contaminated or damaged, the system may prevent the user from leaving the secure area by preventing operation of the door. The system may also provide feedback on why the user cannot progress to the next step. As another example, if a surgeon has not complied with all the requirements for washing his/her hands before performing a surgery, the surgeon may be unable to enter the surgical room. As another example, if the system has identified that a chef has not washed his/her hands, the system may prevent access to food items.
