Covid Cleaning

This article talks about:

• Why covid cleaning is important
• When to clean and disinfect
• Cleaning and disinfection guidelines for businesses
• iAuditor as an helpful tool for covid cleaning

Why is Covid Cleaning Important?

The virus that causes covid-19 is mainly airborne and can land on surfaces. There is a possibility that a person can get infected if they touch the surface and then touch their eyes, mouth, or nose without cleaning their hands beforehand. Even though there is low risk of transmission through surfaces, it is highly recommended to not only clean surfaces but also regularly wash or sanitize hands. Covid cleaning is an important practice to reduce the risk of infection. 

How Often Should it be Conducted?

Covid cleaning should be done at least once a day when there’s no confirmed or suspected covid positive employee, customer, or visitor. The CDC explained that this will sufficiently eliminate or decrease the likelihood of spreading the virus.

Additional measure to include is to disinfect surfaces. Disinfection kills any remaining germs or viruses which further reduces risks of covid infection. Another reminder from the CDC is to clean and disinfect shared spaces more often. High traffic areas are more prone to spreading bacteria since surfaces in these areas are used more frequently. 

Clean and disinfect the area within 24 hours if there is any sick, confirmed, or suspected covid-19 positive person in the workplace or facility.

General Covid Cleaning Guidelines for Businesses

OSHA’s best practices for covid cleaning during the pandemic is to create a plan, determine if disinfection is necessary, develop a routine, select proper cleaning supplies, inform and train employees, and lastly, evaluate the effectiveness of the cleaning method used. To break it down further, here are best practices for safe and effective cleaning as provided by OSHA:

• Develop a plan – OSHA stated that even without a pandemic, businesses should have a written SOP for cleaning and a schedule on when to clean or sanitize. Cleaning and sanitizing should be done periodically.
• Determine whether a surface should be disinfected – As previously stated, cleaning can be done once a day for day-to-day operations. All purpose cleaning products can be used for cleaning. Disinfecting should be done when the surface is in a high traffic area or is frequently touched. Another recommendation is to disinfect when there is a sick, suspected, or confirmed covid positive staff. 
• Routine cleaning of high traffic areas –  OSHA states that this includes workstations, counter tops, light switches, railings, doorknobs, machinery, electronics, and equipment
• Select cleaning products and disinfectants –  If disinfection should be performed, it is highly recommended to use disinfectants that are registered by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) List N Disinfectants for Use Against SARS COV-2. Avoid using bleach if there’s any asthmatic employees.
• Training employees – Employers are responsible for informing and training the employees on the proper method of cleaning and disinfection. The employers should also teach employees the different types of products and which should be used on certain surfaces. Some cleaning and disinfection materials can be dangerous if used incorrectly. An example of the proper procedure for cleaning a restroom is to start from high to low, dry before wet cleaning activities, and towards the doorway.
• Evaluate – after a certain amount of time, check whether the implemented plan is effective and get feedback from the staff.

iAuditor as a Digital Covid Cleaning Checklist Tool

Routine cleaning is still necessary even when there is no pandemic. Businesses know how important it is especially for the hospitality industry.  Hotels receive tons of guests everyday where cleaning is a must before and after each use. Digital tools such as iAuditor by SafetyCulture can help manage and organize multiple SOPs including cleaning and disinfection. 

Accor Hotel Group uses iAuditor to help streamline processes and ensure that every process is correctly conducted and documented. Julia Schamme, Accor Hotel Manager at Dubai Al Barsha said “For our hotel, iAuditor gives us the tools to check ourselves… It is a tracking system where we can analyze and elaborate on our performance in any given area of the hotel, based on Accor’s set standards.”

With iAuditor you can:

• Create or edit covid cleaning checklists to fit the needs of your workplace or facility.
• Accurately do cleaning and disinfection to prevent spread and reduce risks of the coronavirus.
• Immediately submit the covid cleaning checklist for proper documentation using the app. This reduces risk of transmission compared to paper-based forms.
• Quickly notice areas of concern and assign an employee to perform corrective actions.