With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, cleanliness and decontamination are more important than ever before.
This pandemic has forced many working individuals to remain quarantined at home, either working remotely or not at all. However, not all people have the fortune of working from home. In some cases, as it is for essential workers, going into the workplace is still necessary. Medical professionals, grocery store workers, and food service workers all continue to go outside for work while everyone else shelters at home and this puts essential employees at risk of becoming ill.
Knowing this, business owners and workers all need to play their role in maintaining a clean workplace. It will benefit everyone, flattening the curve of infected individuals and helping with disease prevention.
Continue reading to learn more about the coronavirus and the decontamination and disinfection actions you can take for disease control.
Disease and infection control can be done by cleaning surfaces on a regular basis
How Cleaning Protects Against Coronavirus
COVID-19, the technical name for the current coronavirus, is transmitted via respiratory droplets. These droplets can be spread easily person-to-person when people are within six feet of each other.
For example, if an individual who has coronavirus coughs, these germs can reach others who are within six feet of them. These individuals have then become exposed to the virus and could become ill and start experiencing symptoms with 2-14 days. This is why it is so important to wash your hands regularly.
These respiratory droplets can also land on and contaminate numerous objects, materials, and surfaces. Depending on the type of material, the contamination may last for a few hours or even a couple of days.
Disease and infection control can be done by cleaning surfaces on a regular basis. The surfaces will be disinfected of the contaminants, helping with disease prevention.
How to Clean Your Workplace
Wipe Surfaces in One Direction
When cleaning surfaces, you should wipe them down in only one direction. If you wipe a surface using a back-and-forth or circular motion, then you are actually redepositing all of the bacteria and germs that were just wiped. To prevent this, wipe in one direction only. If you are going to wipe the same surface again, then do so in the same direction and not in the opposite direction.
Use Color-Coded Cleaning
When you use towels, brushes, and other cleaning tools, do not use them in different areas of your workplace. Any items used for bathrooms should be used only for bathrooms, and any items used for the office kitchen should be used only for the office kitchen. This will prevent cross contamination from occurring.
An easy way to do this is to practice color-coded cleaning. Designate a color to each area, and have the towels, cloths, and other tools for that area correspond to the designated color. For example, if you designate blue to the restrooms, use blue cloths and towels to clean that area. If you designate green to the kitchen, then use green cloths and towels to clean that area.
Wash your hands properly, using soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds
Post Hand Washing Practices
While it should go without saying, people need to wash their hands before eating and using the restroom. However, it is also important to wash your hands properly, using soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. For some people, it is helpful to keep track of the 20 seconds by singing “Happy Birthday” twice.
To ensure workers and all other people in the workplace wash their hands correctly, hang up signs with hand washing instructions in bathrooms, kitchens, and any other areas that have a sink.
Clean Your Cell Phone and Other High Touch Surfaces
Cell phones are among the top objects/surfaces that are touched by people the most. This means there is a great likelihood that numerous germs have accumulated there, making cleaning and disinfection for these items important. So just as you need to wash your hands regularly, clean your cell phone and other high touch surfaces often, too.
Commercial Cleaning Services
Conducting your own cleaning is good and recommended, but a full deep cleaning is especially necessary in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. You need to do whatever you can to ensure disease prevention. A full-scale cleaning is not a practical task for many individuals, but it is possible with professional help.
Whether your workplace has been exposed to coronavirus or not, now is the time to hire professional commercial cleaning services.
At ServiceMaster of Aurora, we provide businesses in Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, and the neighboring areas with commercial cleaning services through our disinfection and contamination cleaning services. The professional technicians we employ are experienced with cleaning during outbreaks, including SARS and norovirus. Knowing this, you can trust us to provide thorough infection control through our cleaning services.
When working, our trained staff wears personal protective equipment (PPE) for our protection. We first create a cleaning and infection plan and then share the details with you. To remove pathogens and other harmful bacteria, our technicians use advanced cleaning methods and EPA-registered, hospital-grade products.
With help from ServiceMaster of Aurora, you can feel at ease knowing your business will be protected against coronavirus.
