Commercial Cleaning During COVID-19

The pandemic has affected how we engage in our daily lives in so many ways, but one area that has likely been impacted the most is how we address commercial cleaning.  For the safety of staff and customers, commercial cleaning during COVID-19 has needed to be more thorough and more frequent.  We’ve needed to invest in new cleaning supplies in addition to training staff on proper cleaning and disinfecting procedures.  It has become very challenging for many business owners to keep abreast of best practices and guidelines for commercial cleaning during COVID-19.  With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the basic principles of commercial cleaning for the pandemic.

Cleaning versus Disinfecting

Though the risk of infection with COVID-19 from surface contact is low, cleaning and disinfecting is still an important operational requirement.  Not only should staff and visitors to your facility be encouraged to regularly clean their hands, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces can help reduce the risk of infection.  But, what is the difference between cleaning and disinfecting?

Cleaning with soap and/or detergents can remove contaminants and germs while also damage COVID-19 particles to reduce virus transmission.  If there have not been any COVID-19 exposures in a facility, daily cleaning is considered sufficient to maintain the health and safety of your commercial facility.  On the other hand, disinfecting with approved products will kill and remove remaining germs and viruses to provide added protection.  You may need to disinfect if there has been a COVID exposure in your facility or if you are concerned about potential risk because there is a high rate of transmission in your community.  Any time you become aware that a person with COVID or COVID-like symptoms has visited your facility, you should clean and disinfect the space.

Cleaning Plan

It’s important to ensure that all surfaces in your commercial building are regularly cleaned and disinfected as necessary.  Your plan should include a more regular cleaning schedule for high-touch surfaces such as door knobs, faucets, keyboards, and more.  Additionally, if your space is used by people who cannot reliably practice hand and respiratory hygiene (such as children), more regular cleaning should also be considered.  You may want to start with a cleaning checklist where you identify all surfaces that need to be cleaned and then determine how often those surfaces need to be cleaned.

Once you have created a cleaning plan, you may decide that regular disinfection may be needed.  This is likely the case in high traffic commercial facilities particularly in areas with a high rate of transmission.   When disinfecting, ensure to follow product labels carefully and only use an approved disinfectant.  These products will have safety information and explicit instructions for how to ensure disinfection.

Ultimately, many of these tasks are best managed by professional cleaners to ensure they are completed thoroughly and safely so that you know your commercial facility is clean during the COVID-19 pandemic.