Table 1.

How do people’s hygiene-related behaviours correlate with their perception of risk? (RSPH survey 2018)

1. How often do you do the following (always; often; sometimes; never; not applicable)	% of people who said ‘always’	2. Which of the following do you agree pose a significant risk to your health?	% who said this was high risk
Wash my hands thoroughly with soap immediately after preparing raw meat	72	Handling raw meat without washing hands thoroughly with soap afterwards	76 (92 said high or medium risk)
Check my meat is cooked all the way through	71	Eating meat without checking it is thoroughly cooked first	68 (93 said high or medium risk)
Wash my hands thoroughly with soap after using the toilet	73	Not washing hands with soap after going to the toilet	57
Wash my hands thoroughly before eating with my hands	42	Not washing hands thoroughly with soap before eating with hands	34
Use an antibacterial or disinfectant to clean the kitchen and bathroom floors	45 (71 said always or often)	Not using an antibacterial or disinfectant to clean the kitchen and bathroom floors	32 (63 said high or medium risk)
Wash my hands with soap after sneezing into my hands	28	Not washing my hands with soap after sneezing into them	29
Keep my raw meat and poultry in a separate shopping bag to my other produce	38	Putting raw meat and poultry into the same shopping bag as other ready-to-eat foods	38
Wash and dry my dish cloths after each use	21	Reusing dish cloths without washing them with soap and drying them after each use	22 (59% said high or medium risk)

RSPH: Royal Society for Public Health.