There is no need to talk about the impact of COVID-19 at schools, especially now that students are returning to campus this fall after more than a year of online school. Controlling the spread of the virus inside your school is a must to keep students and staff in good health. Keep on reading to learn about the 5 tips for school disinfecting.
Following the CDC Guidelines for Preparing a Safe Return to School and Operating Schools During COVID-19 is essential to prevent transmission among students, staff, and families. Nevertheless, this set of guidelines may have strict procedures for cleaning and disinfecting that exceed the level of expertise of the school cleaning staff. Therefore, if you want to reduce COVID-19 transmission in your school, you should consider following this recommendation by the CDC: constantly cleaning and disinfecting your facility. You can’t let your guard down.
However, you should remember that it is unfair to promise a COVID-19-free school since there is no guarantee. You still have different alternatives to avoid transforming your school into a contagious, risky place. The school cleaning staff must ensure the virus is not present on high-touch points and disinfect these areas. You must partially replace your school cleaning staff with a janitorial cleaning services company to have occasional deep cleaning services. This strategy is a better way to combat the virus.
Prioritize disinfecting high-touch surfaces
Scientists first concluded that COVID-19 spreads through the air. Nevertheless, the CDC stated that transmission through contaminated surfaces is also possible. Particles of the virus will remain for weeks in an area, so, according to the CDC, constant handwashing and disinfecting are crucial for prevention.
The best you can do is to disinfect high-touch points at least once a day, including desks, doorknobs, and handles. You should provide face shields for high contact areas and routinely clean them. In addition, you can check our summer cleaning checklist to ensure your cleaning procedures include everything we mentioned before.
There is no need to sanitize everything
Some objects will have microorganisms on them no matter what, and cleaning them after each use could be a waste of time. As an example, there is no way you can keep children’s toys in elementary schools 100% disinfected all the time. It is best to limit their usage during the coronavirus outbreak. As for laptops and electronic devices, it is also impractical to disinfect them after each use. Giving each student their laptop is the best solution to this issue.
Provide your janitorial staff with COVID-19 cleaning training
Although your cleaning staff members might have a lot of previous experience in disinfecting, COVID-19 is a new danger, and we don’t know everything about it yet. It means a threat to your students’ and your staff’s health. Your staff requires wearing Personal Protection Equipment, including gloves, goggles, and masks. In addition, they also need to wear uniforms or coveralls and change them at the end of their shift. The tools and clothes used should all be disinfected and cleaned.
Moreover, verify that your staff follows all the products’ labels instructions. The CDC suggests cleaning the school facility with no students or staff inside. In the case of classrooms, you can disinfect them during breaks and recesses.
Offer training to teachers as well
Some teachers will do spotless, so you have to guide them on how to clean and disinfect a classroom. You must remind them that they should use gloves and eye protection to manipulate certain harsh chemicals. Teachers should know that it is dangerous to mix some cleaning agents.
The following may sound repetitive, but they must keep cleaning chemicals away from children. Yes, cleaning agents are everywhere nowadays, but they still represent a great danger to young children’s health
Regular school cleaning and deep cleaning
Deep cleaning services use more advanced equipment and will cover what teachers and cleaning staff can’t. We suggest you have these services at least once a week. You should also consider having a general deep clean at your school during summer with the help of recommended cleaning companies. A deep clean will prepare the facility to start the new term in a safe environment.
You may find it exhausting to deep-clean your school one or two days before classes start. Nevertheless, we are willing to help you with this task. Our company offers a free visit to your facility to survey your cleaning needs before starting our deep cleaning task.
Although most school janitorial staff members have vast knowledge about cleaning, their tools are not as effective as those commercial cleaning companies use. For instance, UVC sanitizing wands will destroy microorganisms with UV-C light that disables their reproductive capabilities in hard-to-reach places. Our company offers cleaning services with this device and other ones designed specifically for cleaning. In addition, deep cleaning with the use of green chemicals will protect everyone’s health. You may want to ensure that the cleaning company you work with uses eco-friendly chemicals.
It is essential to educate your staff and your students about cleaning practices. We know that having a deep clean at your school for this summer will be an overwhelming task. But we assure you that the more you talk about cleaning strategies to your students, the more they will care about their health and their classmates’ and teachers’ health.
Our cleaning company has 10 years of experience in commercial cleaning all over North America, and we offer high-quality disinfecting and cleaning services for schools. We hope that you found our 5 tips for school disinfecting helpful.
