Cleaning Vs. Disinfectant Service: Why is disinfecting so important for reopening your business during Covid-19
The covid-19 pandemic has been nothing short of challenging for most business owners. The nationwide lockdown, which is gradually being eased, necessitated all non-essential businesses to stop carrying out physical operations until further notice. But the pressure to self-isolate wasn’t only based on the risks associated with being around a sick, coughing person. In fact, invisible germ transmissions are often the “silent killer” of disease spreading. However, there exist preventive sanitizing methods that significantly decrease the likelihood of covid-19 transmission.
If you’re looking to reopen your business and gradually move back to a normal operational capacity, you will need to practice effective, systematic disinfecting. Disinfecting will ensure your surfaces are safe for human interaction, and the risk of Covid transmission on your premises is negligible. Here’s everything you should know to clean and disinfect your workspace effectively.
Understanding The Differences between cleaning and disinfecting
Cleaning is a process most adults are familiar with. It entails removing the dirt or grime from surfaces, both to ensure the comfort of those interacting with the space, and to maintain its physical appeal. Cleaning does not remove all germs. However, it considerably decreases their number. Disinfecting, on the other hand, targets harmful bacteria and germs with chemicals designed to kill them.
Disinfecting isn’t just “more effective cleaning” – it is the only CDC-approved method of prepping your space to receive workers or clients during the coronavirus outbreak. Disinfecting ensures that the germs associated with the Covid-19 virus are immediately killed. The same bacteria will, however, most likely survive a standard clean-up.
To carry out Covid-19 disinfection, you may want to use both household cleaners and alcohol-based disinfectants. Household cleaners often provide pleasant smells and added benefits such as a coat of wood polish or a shiny, gleaming finish for metal surfaces, while solutions of at least 70% alcohol prevent bacteria from reproducing and exterminates germs within seconds.
Frequent Disinfection Is The Best Covid-19 Protection
Frequent hand-washing is a necessary routine amidst any pandemic. However, this germ-cleansing reflex needs to be applied to more than our hands to be effective. When a person has contracted the Covid-19 virus, the fluids they expel while coughing or sneezing carry the germs responsible for the infection. Generally, these fluids make their way to their hands and clothes, and any other object that will come into direct contact with their palms, and the materials they’re wearing and carrying.
Covid-19 germs have a life expectancy of several days across most surfaces. On metallic surfaces such as doorknobs, jewelry, and silverware, they can survive and infect people who come into contact with compromised surfaces for up to 5 days. On wooden furniture, this number drops to 4 days and gets to 3 where plastic is concerned. Ceramics and glass, which are most often used in kitchen stationery, can carry the virus for up to 5 days.
When disinfecting the surfaces around you, you prevent the virus from posing a threat to your colleagues, employees, or clients on your premises, for several operational days. If you operate a business that requires people to come into contact with your installations (restaurant and diners, hair salons and barbershops, spas, bars, and lounges, etc.), frequent disinfection is the only way of ensuring your business can safely welcome clients.
How To Disinfect: Knowing Your Options
You will need to target the most commonly touched areas of your business. These “risk” areas include:
- Tables
- Doorknobs
- Light-switches
- Handles
- Sinks and faucets
- Toilets
- Desks
- Work tablets and phones
- Kitchen counters
- Remotes
- Computer switches
- Chairs
If you’re looking to use your own household bleach solution, you will need to mix exactly 5 tablespoons of bleach with one gallon of water. Alcohol solutions are deemed most reliable and effective, because they do not have expiry dates on the effectiveness of component chemicals. As long as your alcohol solution is over 70% alcohol, and applied using EPA-approved disinfecting wipes, your sanitizing will be successful. You may want to consider EPA-registered household disinfectants, which have been clinically tried to ensure they successfully exterminate Covid-19 germs.
What The CDC Expects From You
The CDC guidelines for reopening businesses require every business owner to develop a comprehensive disinfection plan, using the products it has approved. You will also need to implement and maintain this plan, revising it where necessary (e.g. increasing the disinfection frequency of a specific handle after observing a spike in its use).
You will need to train your staff to apply social distancing and prevention hygiene, using gloves to sanitize surfaces, disposing of them immediately after, and frequently washing their hands for over 20 seconds at a time. While frequent sanitizing will help prevent the spread of the virus when or if a sick person visits your premises, the CDC also demands that employees keep wearing appropriate face coverings (approved masks) until further notice.
Disinfecting Helps Maintain A Healthy Work Environment
Disinfection also has health benefits spanning beyond the current coronavirus pandemic. Frequent germ extermination can help prevent allergic reactions and asthma attacks, can halt the spread of the common flu, minimize the occurrence of respiratory infections in adults and children, and has been linked to decreased stress levels.
During a pandemic, having a disinfecting routine for your business’s premises means providing your team with a safer working space, which is bound to provide them with increased peace of mind.