hand washing
Enable an AI agent to recognise a hand-washing procedure or episode, assess its recorded execution and identify appropriate next actions without treating observed washing as proof of microbiological safety.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise a hand-washing procedure or episode, assess its recorded execution and identify appropriate next actions without treating observed washing as proof of microbiological safety.
It can be Identify whether a record describes hand washing, water-only rinsing or a neighbouring hygiene practice.; Match a washing occasion to a sourced procedure whose applicability has been established.; Check whether required washing and drying resources are available.; Guide or document the procedure's actions, coverage and explicitly defined timing phases.; Compare recorded execution with the selected procedure and flag omissions or unobservable steps.; Identify whether an interruption or subsequent contact requires review under the applicable procedure..
Distinguishing features
The target is the person's hands; washing equipment, gloves or other body regions does not establish a hand-washing episode.
The procedure uses water to wash the hands; applying a hand rub without a water-washing step is a neighbouring practice.
The record distinguishes water-only rinsing from washing with a cleansing material instead of treating them as interchangeable.
An instruction describes what should happen, while an episode records what happened; possession of the instruction does not establish execution.
A surgical-preparation context triggers a boundary check rather than automatic classification as ordinary hand washing.
Scope
+ Descriptions of hand-washing procedures and their applicability
+ Individual washing episodes and their relationship to a procedure
+ Water, cleansing material and drying resources used or required
+ Recorded sequence, duration and coverage of washing actions
+ Completion, interruptions and contact that may compromise the result
+ Evidence and uncertainty supporting assessments of execution
- Alcohol-based hand rubbing as a separate hygiene procedure
- Surgical hand preparation protocols beyond their relationship to ordinary hand washing
- Diagnosis or treatment of skin conditions and infections
- Design, maintenance and water-quality management of plumbing systems
- Manufacture, formulation and regulatory approval of cleansing products
- Organisation-wide infection-control policies and compliance programmes
Characteristics
- Record role
- procedure description | washing episode Separates prescribed actions from evidence that someone performed them.
- Washing occasion
- recorded preceding activity, anticipated activity or other stated reason; unknown Provides the context needed to select applicable instructions.
- Applicable procedure
- reference to a procedure with issuer, version and applicability Makes any judgement of conformity traceable to an identified instruction.
- Cleansing material used
- none | identified soap or cleanser | unidentified material | unknown Distinguishes water-only rinsing from cleansing-material use without assuming product suitability.
- Water delivery
- running outlet | poured water | shared standing water | other recorded arrangement | unknown Records how wetting and rinsing were possible for comparison with the applicable procedure.
- Timed phase
- seconds, with named phase, start event, end event and timing method Prevents total episode duration from being mistaken for time spent rubbing.
- Hand-surface coverage
- per named surface: observed | reported | omitted | not assessable Allows incomplete coverage to be recorded without inferring unseen actions.
- Episode progress
- not started | in progress | interrupted | ended; conformity assessed separately Separates an episode ending from its satisfying the selected procedure.
- Drying method
- identified method or material | no drying recorded | unknown Captures the final handling of wet hands and enables context-specific assessment.
- Post-wash contact
- contact event linking a hand, contacted surface and time relative to rinsing or drying Supports review of subsequent exposure without declaring every contact contaminating.
- Assessment evidence
- direct observation | self-report | instrument record | mixed | absent Constrains how confidently an agent can assess the episode.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 5 bundles · 10 layers · 10 findings · 20 questions.
Washing identity and occasion Identifies the practice being represented and the occasion for a particular washing episode.
An agent must distinguish hand washing from adjacent practices before applying instructions or evaluating execution.
Practice boundary
Establishes whether the record concerns water-based hand washing and whether it describes instructions or execution.
Washing mode and record role
Record the use of water and cleansing material, the hand target and whether the record is a procedure or an episode.
- Does this record describe instructions for washing hands or an actual washing episode? definition
- Does the action use water on the hands, and is it water-only rinsing, cleanser-assisted washing or a neighbouring practice? boundary
Washing occasion
Connects washing to the activities and setting that determine which instructions may apply.
Occasion and applicable instructions
Record the stated reason for washing and the source of any procedure selected for that occasion.
- What preceding activity, anticipated activity or stated concern prompted this washing episode? definition
- Which issuer and version supply the washing instructions for this setting, and what establishes their applicability? provenance
Washing resources and access Records whether the person can access and use the resources needed for the selected washing procedure.
A procedure may be understood yet impossible to execute because water, cleanser, drying resources or physical access are missing.
Water and cleanser
Identifies the water arrangement and cleansing material available and actually used.
Washing inputs
Distinguish available resources from resources used, with suitability assessed against identified instructions.
- What water delivery arrangement and cleansing material were available, and which were actually used? measurement
- What sourced requirements govern the suitability of those resources for this washing occasion? provenance
Access and assistance
Captures practical barriers to reaching resources and performing washing actions.
Executable washing arrangement
Record barriers involving reach, controls, hand movement or assistance without inferring a medical diagnosis.
- Can the person reach and operate the water, cleanser and drying resources and perform the prescribed hand movements? measurement
- What assistance or procedure-supported adaptation is needed to make this episode executable? action
Washing actions and coverage Represents the performed washing sequence, attention to hand surfaces and phase-specific timing.
A washing label or elapsed time alone cannot establish which actions occurred or which surfaces received attention.
Action sequence and timing
Records wetting, cleanser application, rubbing and rinsing as distinguishable actions.
Performed sequence
Capture action order and timing boundaries without importing an unsourced duration threshold.
- Which wetting, cleanser-application, rubbing and rinsing actions occurred, and in what order? measurement
- For each reported duration, which phase and start and end events were timed? measurement
Hand-surface coverage
Records attention to named hand regions and any limits on observing them.
Covered and unassessed surfaces
Track the surfaces required by the selected procedure, including distinctions between observed, reported and unassessed coverage.
- Which required surfaces, such as palms, backs of hands, spaces between fingers, thumbs and fingertips, received recorded attention? measurement
- Which surfaces were omitted or could not be assessed because of visibility, coverings or movement constraints? boundary
Rinsing, drying and subsequent contact Records how washing ends and what the hands contact during and immediately after completion.
Rubbing does not describe the whole episode; rinsing, drying and subsequent handling require separate evidence.
Rinse and dry completion
Captures the execution of rinsing and drying without assuming cleanliness from appearance.
Rinsing and drying record
Record how rinsing and drying occurred and any observed incomplete step or remaining residue.
- How were the hands rinsed, and was remaining cleansing material observed or reported? measurement
- What drying method was used, and what evidence establishes whether the procedure's drying step was completed? measurement
Contact after washing
Represents contacts during outlet closure, drying, departure and the transition to the next activity.
Subsequent hand contacts
Record relevant contacts and defer their significance to the applicable procedure and exposure context.
- What did the hands touch after rinsing or drying, including outlet controls, drying materials and door hardware? measurement
- Under the applicable instructions, does any recorded contact call for another hygiene action before the next activity? action
Execution evidence and assessment Separates evidence of washing actions from conformity judgements and claims about their effects.
An agent needs a defensible basis for declaring a procedure complete and must preserve uncertainty about unseen actions and unmeasured outcomes.
Washing observation quality
Records the origin, coverage and limitations of evidence about the episode.
Evidence for performed actions
Associate recorded washing actions with direct observation, reports or instrument evidence and their limitations.
- Which washing actions are directly observed, self-reported or inferred from an instrument record? provenance
- What gaps prevent the evidence from establishing sequence, hand-surface coverage or duration? boundary
Conformity and next action
Evaluates execution against sourced instructions and identifies supported follow-up actions.
Bounded completion judgement
Distinguish an ended episode, demonstrated procedural conformity and any separately measured outcome.
- Which requirements of the selected procedure are supported, contradicted or left unresolved by the episode evidence? measurement
- What next action do those instructions support when washing was interrupted, a step was omitted or execution cannot be established? action
What the second pass must settle
- Does the INF / INF.KNW registry placement intend hand washing primarily as procedural knowledge, and should episode records be owned here or linked from a separate activity model?
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own hand washing or a sufficiently precise parent concept, requiring this registry entry to link to it?
- Which authoritative procedures should govern household, food-handling, healthcare and other contexts, and where do their timing, coverage and resource requirements differ?
- Should water-only rinsing be represented as a subtype of this registered thing or as a neighbouring practice linked by a boundary relation?
- Which observation methods and contextual rules are sufficient to assess completion, subsequent contact and the need for another washing episode?