As businesses in Canada reopen, ensuring the health and safety of customers and employees is a key focus. To succeed in the “new normal” of the post-COVID 19 pandemic, businesses will need to step up their game regarding disinfecting regularly, perhaps even multiple times per day.
No one can guarantee an environment is infection free, but there are specific protocols that help ensure a higher level of safety. Everyone knows the basic protocols – wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands frequently… but even those steps may not be enough to break the chain of infection. Businesses that are intentional about infection prevention provide a healthier, safer environment.
Based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and industry experts, here are six anti-virus guidelines to help ensure a healthy workplace.
- Daily deep cleaning
- High-touch disinfection
- Cleaning supplies and PPE
- Personal hygiene
- Social distancing
- Commitment and communication
Daily deep cleaning – Viruses like Covid-19 thrive on dirt, dust and grime. Clean your business thoroughly at least once per day, using the appropriate cleaning products to remove soils. Treating surfaces for coronavirus requires highly specialized expertise. Professional disinfecting teams rely on hospital-grade disinfectants to effectively treat surfaces and inactivate the virus.
High-touch disinfection – Any area in your business that is frequently touched should be cleaned multiple times a day. Make a list of these surfaces (light switches, door handles, handrails, chairs, countertops, coffee stations, etc.) and wipe them with a clean cloth and disinfecting solution.
When it comes to disinfecting an area, technique and process is paramount. Clean in a systematic way. Start from high to low. Go from clean to dirty.
Cleaning supplies and PPE – Disinfecting products and personal protective equipment may be difficult to find. As an alternative, use a mixture of 20 ml of bleach to one litre of water. If you don't have disposable gloves, frequently disinfect reusable rubber gloves.
Personal hygiene – It is essential for all employees to practice personal hygiene rigorously every day. Staff should wash hands thoroughly and often, wear a mask, cough or sneeze into a tissue and discard the tissue, use hand sanitizer and clean their area with disinfecting wipes or solutions.
Social distancing – Maintain a safe distance between yourself and others at all times. Alter your workspace to help workers and customers maintain social distancing and physically separate employees from each other and from customers, when possible.
Commitment and communication – Commitment starts at the top with the business owner or manager. Everyone at the business must be dedicated to preventing contamination. Businesses can reopen with relative safety if everyone follows government guidelines and is diligent about disinfection.
In these unprecedented times, ServiceMaster Restore is ready to respond with effective and customizable disinfectant solutions to mitigate risk in your workplace. Based on your needs, we are fully equipped to provide you with both pre-cautionary cleaning through more advanced disinfection process and post exposure contamination services.