Every business, healthcare facility, school or place of worship has the potential to be an infection hub. The more people that reside or visit there, the higher the risk of the spread of germs and infection. Bacteria and viruses spread quickly from person to person, and we all know as we live through the current pandemic, COVID-19 is a particularly nasty virus that is passed via droplets in the air.
It has always been important to promote good hygiene, particularly in the workplace when you are in the proximity of other people. But it has never been so important as now. Peoples’ lives are literally at risk.
Since we were all first made aware of the COVID-19 outbreak, the number 1 priority has always been hygiene.
Whatever your business, encouraging people to follow good hygiene guidance is fundamental. Ensuring there are facilities available to enforce this is paramount. Introduce signage around your workplace to encourage the use of hand sanitising in between hand washing, the wearing of face masks as and when appropriate, and reminding people to stay at a good social distance from each other. Where an acceptable distance cannot be met, then extra precautions must be taken with the appropriate use of PPE.
Where you can provide hand sanitising gel, it must contain at least 60% alcohol to be effective against the COVID-19 virus. Any hand soap can be provided in your hand washing areas, as the virus cannot survive on soap. Encourage hand washing for a minimum of 20 seconds (sing happy birthday to yourself. Twice!). Paper towels should be provided for hand drying and disposed of immediately.
Although personal hygiene is really important, we must not forget that viruses can survive on surfaces for prolonged periods of time. A rigorous schedule of cleaning should be put into place, taking into account the amount of ‘traffic’ passing through busy areas of your building. Common touch points such as door handles and light switches should be regularly disinfected, as should kitchen and bathroom areas. Desks and equipment, particularly if shared, should also be cleaned on a more frequent basis.
Brightr can help, particularly with specialist COVID-19 cleaning. Our team of dedicated cleaners can help you get your premises ready for ‘business as usual’. Whatever ‘usual’ will be for the foreseeable future!
