Globally, the hot topic on everyone’s lips right now is the Novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19. Taking steps to combat spread of the virus at your facility is paramount for the safety of employees and visitors, and do your bit to help minimise the economic impact. Having the right commercial cleaning equipment, when used in conjunction with solid disinfection and sanitisation practices, has a role to play in promoting a clean, safe and healthy environment and minimise the spread of the outbreak.
Many environmental surfaces, including floors in a facility, can harbour disease-causing germs. Although not directly involved in disease transmission, environmental surfaces may indirectly contribute to secondary cross-contamination through contact. Establishing a sound commercial floor cleaning program to remove dirt on an ongoing basis is the key to effective cleaning and disinfecting floors and other surfaces. Here, we draw on the expertise of our team to provide guidelines for a good floor care and disinfection incorporating the right commercial floor machines.
Selecting the right commercial cleaning equipment
As important as using the right disinfectant-detergent is in a floor care disinfection program, of equal importance are the tools and procedures. Appropriate selection, use, and care of dust mops, commercial floor machines, and wet mops are critical to the success of the program.
Proper dust removal is critical. It has been demonstrated that effective dust removal before wet mopping or scrubbing of floors proved to be an important part of the cleaning and disinfecting process. Dust removal prior to scrubbing or mopping will collect a large portion of debris, dirt, and dust that if uncollected, will limit the capability of the disinfectant-detergent by preventing it from penetrating surfaces. Conquest recommends the following order for dust removal effectiveness:
- A wet/dry vacuum or vacuum with a filtration system is a superior dust-removal tool. A powered floor sweeper is also an effective for large areas.
- A chemically treated disposable dust mop head.
- A freshly machine laundered dry dust mop head.
Dust removal with a floor sweeper
Sweeping floors with a broom is not recommended for this job due to causing fine particles to become airborne and transferred throughout the facility. Since microorganisms are attracted to dust and dirt for a food source, any chance of creating an airborne situation is not advised.
To eliminate this concern in critical areas such as operating or delivery rooms, and where a wet/dry vacuum is not available, a powered floor sweeper is the perfect solution. However, for best effect, it must feature a good quality HEPA filtration system.
Proper care of all commercial floor machines should be taken to maintain the life of the equipment as well as to eliminate cross contamination. Commercial floor machines should be cleaned daily both internally and externally with a disinfectant, and after each use when contaminated with bio-waste.
When commercial floor cleaning is done with proper dust removal, the wet scrubbing process is much more effective.
Litsky recommends the use of sterile wet mops or freshly machine laundered wet mops for the wet mopping process. It is not unusual for wet mops to become contaminated even during dust removal, so it is important to adopt a routine of changing disinfectant solutions and mop heads frequently. A defined process for changing mops is essential and, in some environments such as hospital isolation rooms, may need to be replaced as frequently as after every each clean due to contact with infection or bio-waste. Dirty mops immersed in a bucket of disinfectant can become a medium for growth of live microorganisms. So frequent solution changes should also be included in this process.
The right commercial cleaning equipment for use in large areas
In large open areas such as hallways or lobbies, wet mopping of floors is not necessarily the most productive and cost-effective process. In these instances, it is more appropriate to use the right commercial cleaning equipment for the space, such as a floor scrubber. A floor scrubber applies the disinfectant-detergent to the floor, scrubs the floor with pads or brushes, and then vacuums the floor dry. A floor scrubber is a very productive tool for large areas and very effective in the soil removal process.
When using a floor scrubber to clean and disinfect a floor, double scrubbing is recommended. Double scrubbing is the process of applying the disinfectant-detergent on the floor and scrubbing twice prior to vacuuming the solution. Double scrubbing will allow the disinfectant more contact time with a microorganism, thus creating a better killing situation.
Floor scrubbers should be cleaned daily by running a solution of disinfectant through the machine. Pads or brushes should also be cleaned in disinfectant for 10 minutes and then allowed to air dry.
It’s all in the process
Despite the fact that floors do not play a major role in the transmission of disease, it is appropriate that commercial floor cleaning is completed in a facility on a regularly scheduled basis. This is especially true for health care facilities, and within the food and beverage industry. Use of disinfectants in this process control the spread of bacteria from room to room as long as proper procedures are followed and the right commercial cleaning equipment is used.
Where do I start?
Conquest is a specialist in commercial and industrial floor cleaning equipment, with over 120 years of combined experience in our team. We are keen to assist with your commercial floor cleaning program and can recommend the right commercial commercial cleaning equipment to ensure floors at your facility are cleaner and more hygienic with less effort.
Contact us for your complimentary consultation with a member of our expert team. We are happy to meet with you at your site, or make a time to discuss by phone or video.
