How do I ask my co-workers to wash their hands after using the bathroom without being rude?

Asked by Chikipi (1843) November 10th, 2009 from iPhone

I am constantly in the bathroom and I’ve seen several of my co-workers not wash their hands. I am a female and find this rather gross especially when you can hear the side trash can inside the stall make the “ting” sound which let’s us all know they are on their period. It ranges from going number 1 & number 2, but it happens over and over. It’s more than one woman and some are higher up in the ranks than me with our company. With the flu season coming around and the H1N1 happening as well I find it extremely important for all of us to clean our hands properly. We usually have a short chit chat, but while I am washing my hands they are fixing their hair or putting on makeup. I’ve tried saying, “am I in your way?” and leaving the water on even though we have three sinks and they are all open. I have also talked about H1N1 while we are standing there, but it doesn’t seem to work…they still walk out without washing. I’ve also seen the two second wash and I’ll start humming the Happy Birthday song. Then they asked what’s that then I say, ” I read somewhere that singing Happy Birthday is how long I’m suppose to wash my hands so now I can’t get it out of my head and it’s a habit.” It makes me cringe when I have to grab the door to leave the bathroom so I use a papertowel to grab the door, but then I think about all the other places they could have contaminated in our office. How do I ask my co-workers to wash their hands after using the bathroom without being rude? Do I just go to HR and have them handle it?