In response to the ongoing pandemic, facility managers have significantly upped their emphasis on cleaning for health and preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Despite using best practices, combating COVID-19 and its variants remains an uphill battle. This can be exasperated by forgetting to clean the simplest but often most forgettable high-touch points in your facility. See below for CCS Facility Services’ hitlist of “handy” items that may be forgotten or under-cleaned in daily janitorial work. These items should be cleaned throughout the day with special attention given to each.
Doorknobs / Push Bars
Doorways are among the most at-risk areas for spreading infection. Depending on foot traffic, between one dozen to one hundred hands may touch the same metal surfaces in a single day. Often, this is prior to people using hand sanitizer or washing their hands, as they have just come from outside. With a quick rub of the eyes or itch of the nose, anyone can become infected with harmful bacteria picked up from the door. Consider tasking an employee with regularly cleaning doorknobs, levers, and push bars; disinfecting wipes or spray can do the trick.
Railings
Another important area of potential infection is railings. These areas are touched by dozens of hands every single day, which makes them a potential threat to the health of the building’s occupants. Railings, like doorways, are an essential part of maneuvering the building and often cannot be avoided, which is why cleanliness is even more important for anyone using the building. The best practice is to wipe down railings multiple times throughout the day and taking special care at the railings/posts at the top and bottom of stairs as those may be the highest touchpoints.
Keys
While not all facilities share keys between employees, for those that do, keys can be another easy and forgettable way to spread germs. For instance, the closing staff may have become infected at an earlier time, but germs can live on keys for awhile after initial exposure. When the opening staff gets the keys, they, too, may become exposed, and the spread continues. While it may seem tedious, cleaning keys or any shared items used by multiple team members is important to keep on your radar for disease prevention.
Every facility has unique needs, but these three items are common hotbeds for germs. Consistently cleaning for health and minding high-touch surfaces along with other rigorous cleaning protocols are key to minimizing the spread of infection. Depending on the kind of surfaces in your building (e.g., wood, metal, granite), this can change the length of time harmful germs will survive without disinfectant or sanitization. For more guidance on this, see the CDC’s recommendations.
If staying on top of these important best practices feels daunting, consider having CCS Facility Services meet your facility’s needs. As the first in the world to receive GBAC STAR Service accreditation, our staff is highly trained in infection prevention, cleaning for health, and overall excellent janitorial services. Contact us today to see how we can help. Let’s get to work.