Concerned About Coronavirus at Work? Keep These Communal Areas Clean
When did your building last have a deep clean?
The international outbreak of the Coronavirus or COVID-19 has now been declared a public health emergency and a global concern. More than 3,000 people have been killed worldwide and another 88,000 infected by the virus. In the UK alone there have been a number of cases reported, but of course this is changing every day.
Health officials are concentrating now on minimising the spread of the virus, given that people are now contracting the disease having not recently travelled home from an infected area abroad. Previously this was the clear trend amongst people infected with the virus.
Symptoms of the virus include a fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat and trouble with respiratory breathing. This can affect anyone in this way, but older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions are more at risk, and in extreme cases the condition can be fatal.
Measures to fight the spread of Coronavirus
Whilst the Government and health authorities assess the measures needed to slow down and control the spread of the disease, there has been talk of cancelling public gatherings such as concerts and sports events, and people are being encouraged to ‘self-isolate’ even if they are showing no signs of having contracted the virus. Essentially, those employers who are able to, are asking employees to work from home if they can, for their own safety and the safety of others.
However, as an employer it may not be feasible for you to run a business that way, and as an employee you may not be offered this option. There have been a number of instances in the UK where schools, offices or communal buildings that have housed infected people have been closed down for a period of time. These premises have undergone a deep clean from a commercial cleaning company as part of this isolation process, and people have then been let back into the buildings after a specific time period.
A deep clean from a commercial cleaning company involves sanitising all areas as applicable and undergoing a more thorough clean than would normally be possible when the building was occupied. This is particularly applicable to communal areas such as toilets, shower blocks, wash rooms, open-plan offices and canteens, where the virus can spread easily from one person to several others. A deep clean of these areas is essential.
Top 10 tips for preventing Coronavirus in your workplace
With highly contagious bacteria such as the Coronavirus, the daily cleaning regime we offer at It's Clean does of course help, but it is just once a day/week so much more powerful are the following self-cleaning tips through the day we are advising all of our customers on, based upon our years of seeing infection control measures put in place.
- Have all staff and visitors wash their hands on entering the building, even the delivery folk.
- Have all staff wash their hands at least twice more in the day ( the above two are the most important items and normal soap is fine if washing done properly).
- If using a hand dryer DO NOT rub your hands as this accelerates bacteria spread. Leave the hands still under the dryer, turning gently until dry.
- If using hand towels pat the hands dry with, not rub.
- When entering a toilet use your forearm or shoulder to open the door, i.e. no flesh contact with the door handle. On exit take a paper towel and open/pull the door open with the paper towel as a barrier between handle and flesh, then dispose of the paper towel.
- Stop all handshakes/physical contact.
- Stop all hot desking ( Phones and keyboards are bigger transmitters of infection than toilets as they have more consistent contact with flesh!).
- Have all staff issued with alcohol rubs/wipes to clean their on keyboard and phone daily ( These are now out of stock with all our suppliers, you may still get some via Amazon).
- Don’t hand wash any crockery or cutlery, put everything through the dishwasher, if you have one.
- Ask any staff with a cold to not come into office if at all possible.
Arranging a deep clean of commercial premises
Even when people return to these premises, it is important that measures are put in place to continue to control the spread, so a routine thorough clean from a commercial cleaning company should be arranged until the primary threat has subsided.
As an employer, if you have to keep a workplace open you can still employ a commercial cleaning company for a thorough clean and they can help you put specific controls in place, particularly in communal areas. This includes the availability of hand sanitiser, disposable hand towels and disposable gloves. You should also encourage your employees to wash their hands at regular intervals.
It’s Clean is a commercial cleaning company with the experience and expertise to provide deep clean services of a wide range of commercial premises, and with nationwide coverage we have the resources to help organisations at this critical time, and help combat the spread of the Coronavirus.
