Few people had disinfection services on their radar until 2020. This led to a lot of knowledge gaps, with people requesting help before understanding what the disinfection services actually entailed.
If you’re managing a large facility like a 50-story building or a medical campus, you’re already aware of the benefits of disinfection services. With the recent pandemic, keeping your building safe for staff and visitors and preventing disease transmission is paramount to business operations. Hiring the right company to handle your disinfection services saves you money in the long run. But is your current provider taking the proper steps to do so?
The following points will help you understand if your commercial cleaning company is giving you the best value from your disinfection services. These essential features will help you see the strengths and weaknesses of your provider with a fresh eye. By the end, you’ll know if you’re working with a great company or will need to get a new disinfection services proposal.
What are Disinfection Services and When Do You Need Them?
Many property managers are more familiar than ever with the necessity of disinfection services. The risk of infection from COVID-19 has made frequent disinfection services one of the key strategies for reopening an office after a tenant has tested positive.
Many fail to realize that disinfection doesn’t work if you haven’t correctly cleaned a surface or counter beforehand. Routine cleaning removes dirt and germs and leaves a visibly clean appearance, creating a better working environment for those in the office.
But more importantly, janitorial services prepare surfaces for disinfection by removing these elements so that the disinfectants can do their job and eliminate harmful bacteria and pathogens like the Coronavirus.
Without proper commercial cleaning, disinfection will be less effective and could do little to stop the spread from surfaces like high-touch contact points.
1. Personal Protective Equipment
Using Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE is the first step to proper disinfection. Without the appropriate use of gloves, masks, and booties, the cleaning crew would compromise the disinfection process. PPE works both ways to reduce the risk of catching a virus or disease and risk contaminating an area.
Every crew member that handles disinfection services is an expert at using PPE or personal protective equipment. It’s one thing to use the right chemicals or sanitize a surface, but if the individuals who completed the work aren’t taking the proper measures to prevent a disease or virus transmission, the result is nil.
Your disinfection service provider should follow the cleaning recommendations from governmental agencies like the CDC and EPA. When disinfection services are needed, the cleaning company will use a trusted process to handle the situation.
Properly using PPE is only the beginning, along with steps to manage and prevent any further issues from contaminants.
2. Approved Disinfection Chemicals
When you hire professional cleaning and disinfection services, they will know what products to use for specific situations and surfaces and the proper dwell time to ensure effective treatment. Disinfection requires skills and knowledge based on the situation, surface, and type of product combinations that will handle the job.
Commercial cleaners use EPA-approved chemicals that are OSHA certified and are trained to handle, mix, and prevent damage from misuse. These products kill diseases and viruses outright and reduce the spread of transmission from surfaces.
Related read: Preventing Coronavirus from Spreading in the Workplace
Disinfectants take time to dry and remain on the surface, killing pathogens, germs, and diseases long after the cleaning team has applied the treatment. Basic disinfectants usually have a 5 to 10 minutes kill time. In situations like a positive COVID-19, rapid disinfectants with a 30 second kill time are necessary.
It’s not one chemical that will provide an all-purpose solution. Your commercial cleaning will have the experience and proper products to handle a COVID shutdown properly, making it safe for tenants to return to the contaminated area in short order.
3. Identifying a Disinfection Route
What takes the most time with disinfection is identifying the surfaces that need treatments. When a tenant or someone visits an office, there’s no way to be sure exactly every surface they’ve touched or come in contact with.
Your commercial cleaning company will tell you where you need regular and advanced disinfection treatment. They will work closely with you by selecting the areas known to be contaminated and map a route of all the points along the way.
By doing this, the cleaning company will identify which elevators, hallways, bathrooms, offices, and commons areas are at the most risk. After this prep work is complete, they treat these areas using the proper disinfection mentioned earlier.
Many property managers wonder how long disinfection takes, which depends on the building route, floors levels, and square footage. Typically, disinfection takes anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the building specifics.
4. Disinfecting Too Frequently
Cleaning beforehand is crucial as it prepares surfaces for disinfection chemicals. But one thing that can happen when you disinfect too frequently is that the chemicals can erode and break down surfaces.
Have you ever touched a handle that felt slimy after it was just cleaned? It had plenty of time to dry but still felt slippery? This is because the disinfection chemicals are eroding the material.
Although disinfection is necessary to prevent the spread of disease, the chemicals will eventually wear a surface down. In addition, if you disinfect a surface without proper cleaning, it’s problematic. The chemical residual traps that dirt on the surface, and it will never get clean.
Related read: How Your Floor Plan Impacts Commercial Cleaning Prices
This is very common on floors that aren’t clean before disinfectants are used on the surface. Over time the dirt and grime will get trapped under the surface, and the floor will always look dirty.
Your cleaning company should provide a disinfection schedule to help extend the life of your surfaces and avoid costly maintenance before it’s necessary.
Finding a Disinfection Services Provider
Working with trained staff who take the proper precautions to prevent the spread of disease is fundamental. Not only should they be trained regularly on the latest disinfection process, products, and techniques, their knowledge of correctly using the equipment should be second nature.
At Sentral Services, we use a tested three-level disinfection process to handle emergencies that result in a shutdown to prevent the transmission of disease and virus. Through the pandemic, we have been instrumental in helping many buildings reopen. We continue to provide expert disinfection services to great Montgomery County.
If you are interested in a custom disinfection plan for your building, contact us. We will provide a free quote, and if you decide to work with us, we will ensure your building is safe and healthy for your tenants.
