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Hand hygiene audit tool
An observation audit for wards, clinics and care homes. Record each hand hygiene opportunity you see by staff group and by WHO moment, whether handrub or soap and water was used or the moment was missed, and the form works out the compliance percentage. Then check the facilities and feed the result back to the team. Every question is listed below, and you can fill the live form in on this page.
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What are the five moments for hand hygiene?
WHO's five moments for hand hygiene are: before touching a patient; before a clean or aseptic procedure; after body fluid exposure risk; after touching a patient; and after touching patient surroundings. A hand hygiene audit observes staff at these moments and records whether hand hygiene was carried out.
Last updated . Facts checked by the SiteSurvey team on 5 October 2026 against WHO: five moments for hand hygiene, NHS England: National infection prevention and control manual, chapter 1 (standard infection control precautions) and Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infections.
Try the hand hygiene audit form live
Answer a few questions and watch it adapt. Your answers are not saved, and any photos you add are deleted within the hour.
This is the real form as your team would use it: questions appear as you answer, scores work themselves out and you can add photos and signatures. No sign-up needed.
Want to see one filled in? See a completed hand hygiene audit report (PDF), made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit.
Fill it in on a phone or tablet
Your team completes the hand hygiene audit on site in the SiteSurvey app on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. The project name and address fill in for them, it works without signal, and it syncs when the device is back online with photos kept against the question they answer.
Customers and subcontractors do not need the app: send them a link and they can fill it in from any browser.
Every question in the hand hygiene audit template
Observation audit using WHO's five moments: each opportunity, the staff group, what was done, a compliance percentage, facilities and feedback to the team. 4 sections and 38 questions. Follow-up questions and guidance appear only when an answer calls for them, so the person on site never sees the ones that do not apply.
Make it your own: every question is editable
This is a starting point, not a fixed form. Once it is in your SiteSurvey account you can reword any question, add or remove questions, sections and answer options, and add your own logo, so it fits the way your team works and the jobs you do.
Details you only enter once
Add this form to a project in SiteSurvey and it fills in what the project already knows, so nobody on site retypes it and every form on the job uses the same names. Anything filled in can still be changed.
- Project: the project name
- Provider: the project's customer
- Home or service: the site, when the form is opened for a space or a product
- Address: the site address, from the space or the project
Details
Where and when you observed.
- ProjectShort answer
Filled in from the project in SiteSurvey.
Fills in from the project name - ProviderShort answerFills in from the project's customer
- Home or service*Short answerFills in from the site, when the form is opened for a space or a product
- AddressShort answerFills in from the site address, from the space or the project
- Date of audit*Date
- AuditorShort answer
- Ward, unit or area observedShort answer
- Observation startedTime
- Observation endedTime
- GuidanceWHO's five moments for hand hygiene: before touching a patient; before a clean or aseptic procedure; after body fluid exposure risk; after touching a patient; and after touching patient surroundings.
- GuidanceRecord what you see, by staff group and not by name. Tell the team you are observing: the aim is to improve practice, not to catch people out.
Observations
One entry for each opportunity you see.
- OpportunitiesRepeat for each opportunity. Each one asks:
- Staff group*Choose one
- Nurse
- Care assistant
- Doctor
- Therapist
- Domestic or housekeeping
- Student
- Visiting professional
- Other (describe)
- Moment*Choose one
- Before touching a patient
- Before a clean or aseptic procedure
- After body fluid exposure risk
- After touching a patient
- After touching patient surroundings
- What did they do?*Choose one
- Handrub
- Soap and water
- Missed
- All surfaces of the hands covered?Yes or NoShown only when the answers above make it relevant
- Bare below the elbows, with no wrist jewellery?Yes or No
- GlovesChoose one
- Not worn
- Worn and changed correctly
- Worn in place of hand hygiene
- Opportunities observedWorked out by the form
- MissedWorked out by the form
- Hands not fully coveredWorked out by the form
- Not bare below the elbowsWorked out by the form
- Compliance (%)Worked out by the formShown only when the answers above make it relevant
Facilities
Whether staff have what they need.
- Alcohol handrub is available at the point of careChoose one
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not applicable
- Handwash sinks are clean, accessible and used only for handwashingChoose one
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not applicable
- Liquid soap and paper towels are stocked at every sinkChoose one
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not applicable
- Foot-operated bins are at every sinkChoose one
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not applicable
- Hand hygiene technique posters are displayedChoose one
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not applicable
- Hand cream is available for staffChoose one
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not applicable
- NotesNotes
Feedback and actions
Tell the team the result on the day.
- Have you fed the result back to the team?Yes or No
- Good practice seenNotes
- ActionsRepeat for each action. Each one asks:
- Action*Short answer
- WhoShort answer
- By whenDate
- Done onDate
- Next audit dueDate
- Auditor nameShort answer
- Auditor signatureSignature
- Manager or nurse in chargeShort answer
- Manager signatureSignature
See it filled in
A completed hand hygiene audit report, made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit: every answer, the photos, the guidance that applied and the sign-off, ready to send as a PDF.
Hand hygiene audit FAQs
How is hand hygiene compliance calculated?
The form counts the opportunities observed and the ones missed, and works out compliance as the opportunities where hand hygiene was done, divided by all opportunities, as a percentage. Three done out of four observed gives 75%.
What is recorded for each observation?
The staff group, which of the five moments it was, whether handrub or soap and water was used or the moment was missed, whether all surfaces of the hands were covered, whether the person was bare below the elbows with no wrist jewellery, and how gloves were used. NHS England's infection prevention and control manual lists the same five moments, says to expose the forearms and remove hand and wrist jewellery before hand hygiene, and says to perform hand hygiene before putting on and after removing gloves.
Are staff named?
No. The form records staff group, not names, and advises telling the team you are observing. The aim is to improve practice, not to catch people out.
Does it check the facilities too?
Yes: handrub at the point of care, clean and accessible handwash sinks, liquid soap and paper towels, foot-operated bins, technique posters and hand cream for staff. Each is marked yes, partly, no or not applicable.
How often should hand hygiene be audited?
That is set by your own infection prevention and control programme. In England, the code of practice under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 expects evidence of a rolling programme of audit. The form records the date the next audit is due.
How is the result fed back?
The last page asks whether the result was fed back to the team on the day, and records good practice seen, actions with an owner and a date, and two signatures. In the SiteSurvey app it works offline and syncs when the device is back online, and the record goes out as a PDF or a share link.
Related
Related templates
Templates that go with the hand hygiene audit form
Infection control audit for a care home or clinic: management, cleanliness, hand hygiene, protective equipment, sharps and waste, laundry, equipment and outbreaks.
Manager's quality audit of a care home, set out under CQC's five key questions: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led, with findings and actions.
A cleaning quality audit and housekeeping inspection, area by area, with a pass score, chemical and waste checks, actions and sign-off by the auditor and the cleaning supervisor.
Falls assessment record for an older person in a care home or at home: falls history, the risk factors NICE lists, the environment, and actions with referrals. No score.
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