After more than two years of blanket media coverage, pretty much everyone in Australia is aware of the importance of cleaning to kill off the COVID-19 virus. Yet, it’s interesting that most focus has been on personal hygiene and the cleaning of residential homes.
But what if yours is a commercial or industrial workplace? A public building such as a library or shopping centre? A hospital or care respite home? Or any type of workplace, for that matter? These often need more urgent solutions that require particular steps and precautions. So it’s no surprise commercial cleaning companies often field calls from worried business owners desperate for answers to the following:
- When should covid cleaning be done?
- How should this be done?
- What precautions do we need to take?
- What outcome is expected?
When is Covid Cleaning Required?
The crunch question! Covid cleaning might be required when there is a positive case on your site, but depending on the circumstances of the business, it may pay off to conduct a regular, thorough clean to avoid outbreaks due to different infectious diseases as well.
Remember, the coronavirus can’t be seen with the naked eye, so as long as people cough or sneeze, it can easily be deposited and spread. Covid cleaning doesn’t have to be costly. A good commercial cleaning contractor can be less expensive than you might think.
And, as commercial and industrial work premises normally have large numbers of people, the chances of a positive case spreading grow exponentially, disrupting business and operations. So, when is the right time to have proper Covid cleaning?
That varies, but to help formulate an answer around your specific circumstances, you may want to consider the following:
Staff Can Spread It
They are with you about five days a week. All it takes is for one staff member to bring covid 19 into the office, and it quickly spreads through the air or via surfaces they touch and infect.
Visitors Can Spread It
A virus loves an unwitting carrier, so bear in mind any visitor meeting at your office or factory can easily bring in Covid-19. Even touching a sign-in pen at the front desk can start a chain of workplace infection.
Delivery Personnel Can Spread It
Sometimes the infective sneeze, cough or touch can happen well away from your site. A parcel delivered to your door can be the carrier, deposited on the package by the delivery person or anyone else involved in the delivery chain.
What Does Professional Covid Cleaning Involve?
Proper Planning
Of critical importance is planning. Any professional cleaning company experienced in commercial work should draw up a work plan to limit business interruption as much as possible – or even avoid it altogether.
Employees should be offsite temporarily if the cleaning is done during business hours. A footprint plan will be provided to show the cleanout starting point, endpoint, and direction of progress through the site.
Protective Measures
Cleaning staff (and any internal staff necessary to be present during the clean) will be provided with proper PPE equipment in accordance with applicable workplace safety and industry stipulations.
Setup Process
In basic terms, the cleaning company will set up appropriate equipment for cleaning and disinfection and dispose of all waste items on completion. Depending on the task, such equipment can range from simple clothes and solutions to powered cleaning equipment.
Cleaning Process
As opposed to simple disinfecting, cleaning involves detergent mixed with water (and it is done ahead of disinfecting). The commercial cleaner will thoroughly clean with durable cleaning cloths to remove the COVID-19 virus and general dust, dirt, grime, oil etc. Surfaces vary and can be soft or hard. Professional commercial cleaners make a point of deactivating power sources from electric and electronic equipment before starting.
Disinfection Process
Once cleaned, all surfaces will be disinfected with an appropriate disinfectant solution to ensure the COVID-19 virus and any other virus or bacteria that remains on surfaces are properly killed off.
Commercial cleaners know the accepted list of disinfectants used for this process and allocate the most suitable for your unique site and surfaces. Different disinfectants should not be mixed together.
PPE Equipment and Materials Used
There will be times when full covering is required and other times when only the basics are sufficient. But personal protection is always mandatory – we are dealing with viruses, germs and chemicals at all times.
For protection, professional cleaning companies generally include:
- face masks
- eye protection
- some sort of frontal body shield (like such as a protective gown)
- gloves (almost always disposable types
- Safety shoes or boots
There are some situations where a site has endured high infection rates. It is then not beyond reason to wear a full-body protective suit in preparation for a full-scale clean-out and disinfection.
What Areas Will Be Cleaned?
Obvious Areas
Keyboards, computers, copiers and other IT equipment normally touched by multiple users. This also includes tables and desks, cabinets, drawers and all other furniture, phones, touchscreens, hard chairs and stools, benchtops and not forgetting handles, knobs, rails, switches, kitchen areas, wash ware and toilets, bed rails (in health and care facilities), lounges.
Less Obvious Areas
Professionals clean all those areas a layperson wouldn’t think of cleaning, including walls, floors, window ledges, blinds and curtains, mop and broom handles, inside of microwave ovens, company vehicles, windows, partitions, AV equipment and more.
Summary
It is fair to say that every business owner or manager may think they can perform a Covid clean in-house – whether the objective is to save money or even believing they can do a better job than a professional. The key challenge is understanding how often it needs to be done, and how it needs to be done. To a novice, this is very tricky and can lead to costly mistakes.
One key advantage weighing on the side of the commercial cleaner is experience. MSR Services has been providing commercial cleaning services across Sydney and has dozens of satisfied clients calling us back for regular, routine cleaning.
COVID-19 is a virus that caused a global pandemic. We have extensive knowledge of it, so feel free to contact us anytime to learn about the Covid cleaning process.
