As the globe continues to live through COVID-19, variants such as Delta and Omicron are making getting “back to normal” an ever-moving target.
At CCS Facility Services, we’ve invested in the highest-level training in cleaning for infectious disease exposure. This has been recognized through our achievement as the first in the world to earn the GBAC STAR Service Accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council.
With our knowledge, we’ve put together an easy-to-follow guide on how to best respond to new COVID-19 variants—which is to keep true to the best practices everyone learned in March 2020.
What to Do and How to Do It
Keeping a facility safe and clean requires diligence and product knowledge. Did you know that there are four different ways to clean a surface? They’re often confused for each other, but each produce significantly different results:
Cleaning – removes dirt, dust, blood, and other more noticeable substances off a surface or object. This does not remove or kill pathogens but preps an area for disinfection.
Sanitizing – eliminates 99% of select bacteria found on surfaces, but it cannot kill COVID-19. It does, however, lower risk of spreading infectious diseases, or other harmful microbes.
Disinfecting – reduces pathogens by 99.9%. The products used in this process often need to sit for a period on the surface to take maximum effect.
Sterilizing – destroys 100% of microbes on a surface. It is by far the most effective method of keeping a workplace safe and healthy, often requiring special equipment and products.
Keeping Your Air Clean
Another important technology to consider investing in is air purification. With the use of advanced air cleaning, facilities can reduce airborne pathogens from the environment. CCS Facility Services can support your facility with a comprehensive clean air plan that adheres to CDC and the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ (ASHRAE) guidance on the use of high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration systems.
Making a Plan
Knowing the right techniques for cleaning a facility is the first part of the job, but then you need to establish a cleaning protocol you can share with anyone who is charged with keeping the area clean. A cleaning strategy can be a list of things that need to be accomplished or a visual floor plan with specific to-dos in each spot. It’s important that these instructions are clear, concise, and easy to understand. Providing visuals, as well as including instructions in a second language, may be a valuable investment.
While the methods of cleaning have not changed much since spring of 2020, it is just as imperative to be implementing these practices consistently with your facility services teams now as we head into 2022. Using these tips, your facility will be better prepared for future variants and any infectious disease as we continue the journey through the ever-evolving world of COVID-19.