I just returned from a week in North Carolina where I got a kick out of the standard government required hand washing posters in all of the restaurant restrooms.
It starts with the words “Each Employee’s Hands …”. I’m no expert in grammar but that sounds to me like they are focusing on each hand rather than each employee. IOW…don’t just wash one hand you dummies!!
I don’t recall the rest of the wording but I think I got enough of it to make the point …am I wrong?
Well, if they were focusing on individual hands, it would have been “Each Employees’ Hand…” or possibly “Each Employee’s Hand…” but there’s an implication that each employee only has one hand. “Each Employee’s Hands…” implies the hands of each employee, which is a bit clumsy but understandable. Good technical writing is hard to do. It has to be readable, exact, and concise, and doing all three on one poster to remind people to do something as boring as hand washing is fairly difficult.
There’s a lot of questionable signage out there that far surpasses any confusion this one might create.
I like the signs that just say “Employees must wash hands.” I’m always tempted to go up to the counter and tell them I need an employee to wash my hands for me.
I got the same first-impression, from reading the OP. It sounds like each restroom in a restaurant must have a bathroom attendant, whose job it is to wash each hand of each employee as they leave the loo.
But we really need to know . . . would this be the same attendant who also wipes each employee’s butt? :eek: I should hope they have a different attendant to do that!
What does the word “each” refer to… employees or hands?
It cannot refer to “hands”. “Each” has to refer to a singular noun, not a plural one.
Yeah, I didn’t see any ambiguity either.
Seen at a Wimpy’s hamburger joint in Scotland:
“Now wash your hands.”
So typical Scottish vernacular.
OK…but that assumes the author knew what he was doing.
Is their a good reason to refer to “each employee” instead of “every employee” or just “employees”?
Perhaps an NC doper could verify the actual wording for me…it’s the standard sign in every restaurant restroom.
Not confusing…just stupid. Every state has something comparable and I’ll bet that a city or two gets in on the act as well.
Whoever did this sign should be shot 
So whenever you see grammar used correctly, you assume it was unintentional?
Nice sentence, by the way. I don’t know how you pulled it off, but you did!
Why would the sentence begin that way? For “Hands” to be the subject, surely the sentence would have to be in passive voice, and who the hell writes instructions like that?
If the instruction must specify who performs the action, that person would be the subject -
“Employees must wash their hands before returning to work”.
If not, the sentence would be written in the imperative … mood? …
“Wash your hands before dinner, kids.”
I know some people write things like “glass-ware must be rinsed with acid before use”, but, frankly, it’s seldom necessary, and in this case it would be just weird.
Maybe it says “each employee’s hands must wash themselves before their owner returns to work.”
Or “Each employees’ hand must wash the other.”
Me neither!
BTW…here’s the exact wording:
“Each Employee’s Hands Must Be Washed Thoroughly, Using Soap, Warm Water and Sanitary Towel or Approved Hand-Drying Device, Before Beginning Work and After Each Visit to the Toilet”
How often do the employee’s hands visit the toilet?
Well, strictly speaking, I guess there is no requirement that the employees wash their own hands, to achieve the required out come. Employees could wash each other’s hands.
But, “sanitary”? Is that so much different from clean?
According to Merriam Webster, it is:
1: of or relating to health <sanitary measures>
2: of, relating to, or used in the disposal especially of domestic waterborne waste <a sanitary sewer system>
3: characterized by or readily kept in cleanliness <sanitary packages>
I’m thinking “clean” would have worked …