The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the formation of several partnerships whose aim is to increase the hygiene and sanitation of schools and businesses, increase their staff's capacity to respond to viral outbreaks in the future, and develop methods to prevent the spread of illness to facility occupants.
Helping Schools and Businesses Combat the Spread of COVID-19 in Their Facilities
Through a series of professional partnerships, janitorial service providers are now able to assist building owners and facility managers:
- Reopen their buildings with confidence.
- Prepare their facilities and teams to combat the spread of COVID-19 and other biological risks to human health.
- Train their teams to respond to viral and bacterial outbreaks, and;
- Recover from the contamination of their facility through biological contaminate exposure.
Creating Healthier Safer Facilities
Establishing protocols to develop healthier and safer school and business buildings is a multi-level process, encompassing plans and commitments from stakeholders at every level.
While the full scale of such programs is beyond the scope of this article, your custodial provider can, and should, at the least, assist your team with:
- Conformity to and compliance with documented infection prevention and control procedures.
- The establishment and tracking of clear objectives and targets for training, response, recovery, communication, and maintenance.
- Monitoring and control mechanisms to track and validate every level of a successful infection prevention program's implementation and success.
- Ongoing risk assessment and mitigation strategies that adjust and conform to real-world scenarios and occupant requirements.
- Standard operating procedures that outline clearly defined responsibilities and duty assignments for each department and responsible staff member.
- The tracking of tools and equipment used for facility maintenance and the maintenance records cross-referenced with manufacturer suggested life-cycles with a clearly defined SOP for decommissioning, upgrades, and replacements.
- A thoroughly documented list of approved cleaning and disinfection chemicals kept onsite, safety data sheets for each chemical, SOP for handling, disposal, and emergency response, and SOP for what chemical is to be used when, where, how, and by whom.
- Inventory control and supply chain management for all tools, equipment, and chemicals used in the infection prevention and control process.
- Personal protective equipment use, training, documented SOP, and inventory management.
- Documented sustainable waste disposal processes for toxic and biological materials, recyclables, and regular office waste.
- Ongoing training, education, and assessments of staff and stakeholder cleaning, disinfection, PPE, and infection prevention and control methods.
- Documented emergency response methods in the event of biological risk exposure or accidental chemical spills and exposure.
- Documented infection prevention and control policies and procedures should be routinely reviewed and regularly updated to adhere to new diseases and occupant requirements.
- Worker health programs that document occupant requirements to prevent the transmission of diseases, such as hand hygiene requirements, social distancing during outbreaks, work from home requirements, and illness screening procedures, and;
- Documented routine auditing and inspection programs that assess facility claims and program performance.
References & Resources
Takeaway
The rapid increase in worldwide business operations combined with increases in regular travel will inevitably result in the spread of biological threats to human health.
A complete overhaul of how businesses and schools prepare for and respond to biological threats is necessary in order to protect public health and wellness.
Outsourcing to an experienced service provider is a proven method for cost-effectively onboarding and implementing these vital services for your facility.
If you would like more information regarding the effectiveness of high-performance infection prevention and control measures, or if you would like to schedule a free, no-obligation onsite assessment of your facility's custodial needs, contact us today for a free quote!
In Bakersfield CA, call (661) 437-3253
In Fresno CA, call (559) 206-1059
In Valencia CA, or Santa Clarita CA, call (661) 437-3253
In Palmdale CA, or Lancaster CA, call (661) 371-4756
