Skin, Greek- dermis, Latin - cutis, covers the entire body surface and it is the largest organ. Normal skin is morphologically composed of epidermis, dermis and supcutis. The primary skin function is to protect the entire organism and internal organs from the negative effects of the environment. Dermatitis is an inflammation of all skin layers. The symptoms are: warmth, increased blood flow leading to mild skin edema, redness- dilated blood vessels, skin erythema, pain- nerve irritation of the inflamed tissue, which leads to itch, prickle and similar, resulting in scratching, itching which leads to further skin damage and functio laesa. There are different types of dermatitis, but the most common are irritant contact dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, phytophotodermatitis, perioral dermatitis, etc. Contact dermatitis is the inflammation of the skin caused by direct contact and is the most common professional skin disease. Skin damages with irritant (toxic) agents acting directly on the skin surface causes the formation of non-allergic or irritant contact dermatitis. If the damage is caused by the skin sensitization to the substances of low molecular weight then we are talking about allergic contact dermatitis. The most common changes occur on the hands. Diagnosis is performed by using anamnestic data, clinical picture and allergy tests to standard series of allergens by performing an Epicutaneous patch testing. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the occurrence of contact dermatitis as a consequence of hands washing with medical soaps and disinfectants that health care professionals in Dubrovnik hospital are using; to determine which washing and disinfecting agents are the most often used in their everyday work, but also to assess their knowledge and awareness of risk factors and prevention measures, as the health care professionals are in risk group due to the nature of their work. This study was made on health care staff in some of the departments of Dubrovnik General Hospital like: department of surgery, intensive care unit and internal department.According to our research results, we can conclude that 54% of the examinees are always using the hand disinfectants. The most widely used are Plivasept – the red one and the blue one. When they were asked if they are using the skin protect care products, 40% of the examinees answered that they rarely used them, while 6% responded they are not using them at all. We can conclude that health care professionals are aware and educated about the importance of hand washing and disinfecting, as well as the use of the protective equipment when working with the patients. According to the survey results, we can conclude that only the small number of health care professionals have the diagnosed irritant or contact dermatitis. The examinees answered that their hand skin changes due to often hand washing and disinfection are not related to illness, but as a result of their work. Survey employees use the protective gloves in their daily work, and one employee reported allergy to latex and rubber.