Month: December 2020

With the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining high-traffic common areas in a facility, such as restrooms is critical. According to a study, 77,000 distinct types of bacteria and viruses exist in restrooms. Due to the aerosol effect that occurs when a toilet is flushed with the lid open, harmful bacteria can easily be transferred throughout the restroom.

However, the toilet is not a restroom’s most unsanitary place. In fact, many different surfaces harbor bacteria. In addition to cleaning toilets, it is very important to clean & disinfect the following high-touch surfaces to help prevent germ transmission:

1. Door Handles

Door handles are one of the most unavoidable high-touch area in a restroom. As patrons enter and exit, germs are transferred from restroom users’ hand to the door handle and from the door handle to other users hand. Cleaning and disinfecting restroom door handles frequently will help mitigate the spread of germs throughout facilities. When applying disinfectants, make sure the disinfectant reaches the back of the door handle.

2. Dispensers & Hand Dryers

Not all restrooms include contact-less soap and paper towel dispensers. Dispensers without contact-less features harbors more bacteria as restrooms users will have to touch them to use them. Facility managers should ensure that “push”dispensers are cleaned and disinfected frequently if contact-less dispensers are not feasible.

Hand dryers have also been shown to spread germs throughout a restroom. A 2018 study found that hot-air hand dryers collect bacteria from the air and transfer it onto freshly washed hands. Another study found that jet-air dryers spread 60 times more bacteria than hot air dryers and 1,300 times more than paper towels.

Providing contact-less paper towel dispensers can be one way to help patrons and employees dry their hands without spreading germs. Facility managers should consider strategically placing paper towel dispensers close to the exit so that patrons can use the paper towel to grab the door handle when exiting a restroom. Place a trash can next to the exit so that the paper towel can be discarded immediately.

3. Light Switches

In some restrooms, users may have to manually turn lights on and off, especially if the restroom is in a small facility or if the restroom itself is small. With floors, door handles, and toilets getting most of the attention, light switches can often be overlooked when cleaning & disinfecting high-touch surfaces in restrooms. Make sure your light switches receive the proper attention from cleaners.

4. Rails & Stalls

Rails should be cleaned frequently by using a soft microfiber cloth, avoiding abrasive tools and solutions. Should you use abrasive tools and solutions like steel wool or mineral acids & bleach, the rails may start to rust. If you use disinfectant solutions, follow proper label instructions. It is important for cleaners to know and respect the dwell times of disinfectants as well as know if the solution should be wiped off or must be air dried. When cleaning door latches, toilets, and floors, don’t ignore restrooms stall walls, which may be covered in bacteria spread from the toilet aerosol effect. Stall walls can accumulate germs and are often overlooked.

Restroom Cleaning Best Practices

When deep cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces in restrooms, it’s critical that facilities follow best practices, such as:

• Using high-pressure cleaning and extraction: High-pressure cleaning removes buildup that brushes can’t reach and eliminates the need to touch contaminated surfaces. It removes soil and dirty water, which helps to minimize cross-contamination and odor causing bacteria. Afterward, it is best to extract any leftover soils to prepare the surface for disinfection.

• Clean before disinfecting: Proper disinfection requires the removal of heavy soils that can become embedded in restrooms before disinfectant is applied. Cleaning will decrease dirt, germs and other impurities on high-touch surfaces, and disinfecting will kill or inactivate the germs on the surface. If high-pressure cleaning and extraction is not available, using separate brushes, hand tools, microfiber wipes, and a dual-chamber mop bucket will help reduce cross-contamination.

Following best practices that address cleaning high-touch points in high traffic areas such as restrooms is important to help limit the spread of germs throughout a facility.

We Clean For Health, Not Just Aesthetics

Looking clean is important but being clean – achieving a condition free of unwanted matter – is more important.  Now is the time to have a robust and transparent cleaning plan and execute it at maximum levels. As a facility manager, it is your responsibility to ensure your facility is being properly cleaned and disinfected. Understanding that not every situation is a “one size fits all” requirement, WOW! BMS takes traditional cleaning practices beyond the usual standards. As the days go by, we are actively seeking out newer and more efficient ways to serve our clients.

Our INTEGRATED CLEAN™ provides an innovative way to help our community reduce the risks of illness related to many type of bacteria, as well as treatment against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, through effective surface hygiene solutions.

 

A Culture of Hygiene

Due to the heightened awareness of social hygiene, it is no longer sufficient to keep cleaning staff invisible – working at nights or when the facility is unoccupied. In fact, facility occupants wants to see and know that your facility is actually being clean & disinfected. Creating a culture of hygiene includes specific efforts to engage and educate facility occupants.

These efforts include: electronic signage highlighting cleaning efforts; checklists indicating when a room was last cleaned appearing in areas other than restrooms, such as conference rooms; door hangers and note cards placed on desks to indicate they have been cleaned; and the strategic placement of hand sanitizer stands throughout the building with signage to encourage their use. Following these examples will increase engagement and provide education to facility occupants that can give comfort and confidence in the health and safety of your facility.

 

Sustainability At Work

WOW! Building Maintenance Solutions has always been committed to environmental responsibility and continues to find ways that we can improve our environment through sustainable conduct. As an active member in Building Service Contractors Association International, Building Maintenance Solutions has many resources at its disposal to maintain the highest standards and practices in ‘Green Cleaning’ cleaning to protect health without harming the environment. We customize an appropriate staffing plan for our clients, providing the best possible service while reducing both the cost and energy consumption.

 

Serving Clients With Teamwork, Transparency, & Integrity

The business world is facing an unprecedented change and the concept of “business as usual” is at a high risk of extinction. To be successful in this ever-changing world, Building Service Contractors (BSC) need to be agile, flexible, & willing to go the extra mile to protect health and safety. As a true BSC, we are committed to pursing innovative ways to provide quality maintenance solutions to each client we serve.

We will always do what is right to protect the health and safety of each facility we service. We take pride in building strong relationships with clients transparent, efficient, high quality, and reliable services. With the implementation of the newest technologies, our teams are able to work more productively so that our valued clients can focus on what they do best.