Are you Practicing These 5 Ways of Preventing Contamination in Your Facilities? If Not, You Should be!

Keeping your facilities as contaminant-free as possible is most likely high on your priority list. Because of just how important fighting off contaminants can be, cleaning professionals really do function as difference makers in your buildings – especially when preventing the spread of pathogens that lead to the common cold, flu, and all ailments derived from the Coronavirus.

To minimize contamination and to alleviate any potential anxieties for your building occupants, here are 5 crucial steps towards a cleaner facility:

1. Preventing cross-contamination
2. Focus on cleaning high-traffic areas
3. Educating building occupants on proper cleanliness
4. Training team members often
5. Following cleaning best practices

Let’s jump right in!

Tip #1: Prevent Cross-Contamination

One of the biggest ways to guarantee effective cleaning is to prevent cross-contamination. Cross contamination, in the context of janitorial services, occurs when a cleaner unwittingly spreads around germs and contaminants instead of effectively sanitizing the areas they clean. Despite best intentions and protocols, this is still a common occurrence in facilities. So, it pays to be mindful of minimizing the incidence of cross-contamination.

Some tips for preventing cross-contamination include:

• Color-coating rags, mops and every cleaning cloth to pertain to specific cleaning routes.
• Changing all cleaning materials strategically and often.
• Changing janitorial gloves regularly.
• Frequent hand washing.
• Cleaning should be done from clean to dirty areas to minimize the risk of spreading dirt and pathogens around.

There are many more, but with these in place, you will minimize the majority of cross-contamination instances.

Tip #2: Focus on Cleaning High Traffic Areas the Most

It goes without saying that an effective way for preventing pathogens from frequenting your facility is to clean the high traffic areas. You should factor your high traffic areas at the top of your cleaning priority hierarchy. High traffic surface areas are bathrooms, computer keyboards, door handles, drinking fountain buttons, and light switches – to name a few.

Tip #3: Consistently Educate Occupants About Hygiene and Contamination Prevention

We can all use consistent cleanliness reminders that move beyond the typical “employees must wash hands” signs. To prevent the spread of a virus and to ensure your facilities stay clean, post reminders, send emails with the most up-to-date cleaning information, and place sanitizers around the office in accessible places. Sending outreach to occupants not only increases organizational communication, but leaves everyone as educated on cleaning practices as possible. 

Tip #4: Train Your Cleaning Team Often

Did you know that just using soap and water to clean areas can actually just spread around germs? Additionally, there are certain cleaning cloths that have materials that actually deactivate the cleaning agents in some cleaning solutions.

Equipping team members with the proper knowledge encourages effective cleaning practices.

Having meetings, training professionals on how to effectively use equipment, and maintaining regular accountability of cleaning performance is one of the most important practices you can commit to.

You should establish logical cleaning routes and do a consistent job at cleaning, but ultimately everyone should be on the same page and have the needed knowledge to do their jobs effectively.

Tip #5: Follow Best Practices for Your Facilities

Follow the common best practices for preventing the spread of contaminants in your facility.

This means you should encourage your occupants to sneeze into their elbows and not their hands. To remind those that are sick to stay home and recover. Also, make sure that everyone keeps their hands away from their faces and eyes to prevent a touch point of contact for infection.

Get in Touch

Put Service by Medallion to work for you. For more information on this topic, or help with any building cleaning and operating need, contact a Service By Medallion Business Solutions Specialist at (650) 625-1010.