The novel coronavirus pandemic is a long-term crisis and that means that building a long-term disinfection program is important for all facility managers. Effective protocols can better ensure the health and safety of customers, visitors and employees in the complex.
During this time of COVID-19, industry standards demand that facility managers audit, revise and reevaluate all maintenance procedures on a regular basis. Therefore, building an effective disinfection program is essential to give visitors and employees the peace of mind they need during this pandemic.
Follow these five key steps to create your facility’s new Effective Disinfection Program:
1) Visible Maintenance: More frequent and visible cleaning
When people see the facility being cleaned and disinfected it demonstrates your commitment to safety. Employees, customers and visitors are looking for assurances that the public spaces in your facility are being cleaned, disinfected and maintained. It used to be okay for maintenance staff to work in the shadows. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it necessary for maintenance and janitorial staff to be out in the open. Consider adding signs to assert that high touchpoints are being disinfected regularly. A visible disinfection program shows everyone who comes to your facility that you are serious about hygiene and safety.
2) Expert Advice: Best practices, equipment and techniques
The CDC regularly updates operational guidelines, maintenance protocols and emergency plans for healthy building certification. It is necessary for facility managers to be flexible and deploy new practices, regularly update training, and add changes to the supplies and equipment being used. Ongoing communication to employees is a must. An effective disinfection program must be open and able to adapt and apply new learnings across the entire facility.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, GBC Facility Services has routinely trained its staff to meet the highest standards of cleaning in all facilities — businesses, hotels, educational institutions, multi-family buildings, shopping malls, and healthcare centers— to tackle coronavirus hygiene. Feel free to read how we do it: Coronavirus Cleaning and Disinfection Services.
3) Multi-faceted, Round-the-Clock Assessment
Possible infection from the coronavirus is ongoing and that means disinfection against the virus must be round-the-clock. Whether your facilities have stayed open or are about to reopen, it’s a good idea to assess your cleaning program and reset protocols. During the Covid-19 pandemic, especially, preventing germ transmission and maintaining clean high-touch surfaces within a facility are essential. Make a list of the high-touch points, assess which need disinfection and create a timetable for how often they require disinfection and cleaning. The next step is to survey which EPA-recommended cleaning chemicals and supplies are required. Don’t forget, visible maintenance is now an industry requirement and this means more supplies will be needed to treat the general public space more regularly.
4) Flexible Protocols and Technology Advances
The CDC regularly updates best new practices to combat COVID-19 spread. Your facility must adhere to flexible protocols that can be altered and adapted to meet new recommendations for cleaning and disinfecting. Moreover, COVID-19 has added new technologies to be incorporated with your disinfection program. Disinfection and industrial hygiene cleaning experts, like GBC Facility Services, can show you best ways to implement new technology in your facility.
5) Disinfecting and Cleaning the Whole Facility
All four traits above for an Effective Disinfection Program can only be effective if the facility manager adapts them to the whole facility. All rooms, hallways, doorways, floors, common areas and more must be disinfected and cleaned frequently as part of a facility’s disinfection program. Touchpoints in an office may be different from a restroom but all touchpoints must be maintained on a regular basis. The round-the-clock assessment we described earlier can help keep in order different timetables for cleaning what and when. Share these assessments with a professional facility services company to ensure the whole facility is cleaned and disinfected often.
At GBC Facility Services, we are here to help you deal with the novel coronavirus and keep your janitorial services and maintenance upkeep, in accordance with CDC recommendations.
GBC Facility Services welcomes clients throughout the United States and Canada, offering a wide array of cleaning services, from janitorial to deep cleaning to maintenance. We developed our proprietary software to guarantee top cleaning and maintenance standards consistently. We pride ourselves on being able to correct any issues in real time. Our clients have access to service tracking and audits, which gives them the ability to have all the information needed without even making a phone call.
Give our expert service team a call today so we can help you make your facility a cleaner, healthier, more productive and welcoming environment.