FOCUS HEALTH & SAFETY
INFECTION PREVENTION
Winter is a common time when
people get ill as temperatures
drop and we spend more time
indoors. The flu (influenza) is
particularly spread during this
period, which brings a chorus of
sni s and sneezes as people across
the UK battle through illness. While
flu outbreaks come as no surprise,
this year the world has come faceto
face with a new virus that has
spread to UK shores – coronavirus
(COVID-19).
Amid unprecedented circumstances
caused by COVID-19, it’s more
important than ever that businesses
take the right measures to keep their
facilities clean and employees safe.
REGULAR CLEANING IS ESSENTIAL
Workplaces can be challenging
environments to prevent cross
contamination due to the large
number of people, shared spaces
and equipment. It’s essential that
businesses take action particularly
during a time where illness is rife, to
ensure their workplace doesn’t serve
40 APRIL 2020
as a hotbed for viral infection.
Kitchen, dining areas and
washrooms must be subject to
vigilant daily and weekly cleaning
routines. We advise that standard
cleaning is scheduled and tracked,
ensuring that it takes place regularly
and on time. Organisations with hotdesking
policies should also provide
antibacterial wipes and encourage
sta to wipe down their desks at the
beginning and end of each day.
It might sound simple but
encouraging proper handwashing
as we have heard constantly on the
news recently, will also help to prevent
the spread of germs. Our hands are
a natural breeding ground for germs
and one of the principle carriers of
harmful pathogens – in fact, 80 per
cent of infections are spread by hand.
Ensuring your employees have access
to essential handwashing tools – warm
water, soap, drying facilities and
ideally, hand sanitiser - is key. There
should be ample supplies of these
products throughout the building,
paired with handwashing reminders to
encourage best practice.
PROACTIVE PREVENTION
On top of a regular cleaning regime,
booking in a deep clean is important
during a period of illness outbreak,
preferably managed by a specialist
cleaning company that is trained to
tackle those hard-to-reach or rarely
seen areas where potentially harmful
micro-organisms might be hiding.
With regards to the coronavirus
outbreak, businesses that are
remaining open would be wise to
review and update their cleaning
regimes. They should also proactively
prepare in case a deep clean is
required, in the event they have a
suspected or confirmed COVID-19
diagnosis on site. This would require
a contingency survey of the premises
to assess the operational needs
and cleaning process as well as the
financial cost of a deep clean, should
an outbreak occur. All-purpose
specialist disinfections are also advised
during unprecedented times, to ensure
your facility is as clean as possible at
a time where cross contamination
potential is hard to mitigate fully.
To perform a deep clean, experts
will have access to specialist multipurpose
biocidal cleaners, which can
decontaminate surfaces by killing
bacteria, fungi, spores, yeasts and
viruses. A deep clean should include
a thorough disinfection of high
frequency touch points, as well as
moving all furniture or equipment
away from the walls to make sure no
areas are missed from the cleaning
routine. One powerful tool in the
deep cleaning arsenal is Ultra Low
Volume (ULV) disinfectant fogging.
This involves specialist technicians
generating a mist of disinfectant
which settles on top of, underneath
and on the sides of objects, enabling
technicians to disinfect a large area in a
short period of time.
REACTING QUICKLY
In addition to prevention, it’s also
important that if a worker or visitor
to your premises does contract or
is suspected to have contracted
COVID-19, you react quickly to
decontaminate the premises.
Under government guidance, in
most circumstances the amount of
infectious virus on any contaminated
surface is likely to have significantly
decreased a er 72 hours. This is a key
consideration to determine the type of
deep clean service that your premises
will need.
For businesses with a confirmed or
suspected case of COVID-19 on the
premises that cannot a ord to close
for 72 hours, it is essential that this
situation is handled with care and
caution. The safety of technicians
and the safety of the general public
is always of paramount importance,
and for this reason carefully risk
assessed infection control measures
which go above the minimum World
Health Organization (WHO) guidance
would be employed. For example, RSH
technicians’ use of full-face respirators
rather than half face respirators
for their safety. Technicians will
meticulously manually disinfect rooms
and areas that pose a threat of causing
cross contamination, using a high-level
surface disinfectant to help minimise
the risk of infection. This includes all
floors, walls, ceilings and any objects.
Businesses with remote working
capabilities, who can a ord to wait
72 hours, can request our specialist
disinfection service to disinfect
their premises. This uses the same
processes and includes cleaning
common touch points, such as door
handles and kitchen surfaces.
It is also extremely important
that any waste is disposed of in a
safe and legally compliant manner,
to ensure there is no further cross
contamination. Rentokil Specialist
Hygiene follows the COVID-19 infection
prevention and control guidance as set
out by Public Health England, which
states all waste will be handled as
clinical waste and we ensure that all
resulting waste is correctly segregated,
transported, and disposed of in line
with clinical waste regulations.
FINAL WORDS
When it comes to cleaning regimes,
proactivity is essential to help prevent
the spread of disease, particularly
during an illness outbreak such as
coronavirus. While hand hygiene
will help stem cross contamination,
specialist deep cleans will o er
that extra level of protection and
businesses should consider booking
one in.
Employees working in essential services, from healthcare to retail still
need to turn up for work. So how can you protect them? Jamie Woodhall,
Technical & Innovations Manager at Rentokil Specialist Hygiene off ers some
essential advice on keeping the spread of infection at bay
HANDS ARE A NATURAL
BREEDING GROUND FOR
GERMS AND ONE OF THE
PRINCIPLE CARRIERS OF
HARMFUL PATHOGENS
– 80 PER CENT OF
INFECTIONS ARE SPREAD
BY HAND
IN MOST CIRCUMSTANCES
THE AMOUNT OF
INFECTIOUS VIRUS ON
ANY CONTAMINATED
SURFACE IS LIKELY TO
HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY
DECREASED AFTER 72
HOURS