It’s never too early to think about how to keep your employees safe when they return to the office, especially as experts predict that a second wave of the virus will impact U.S. businesses this fall. Not only are expert janitorial services crucial at a time like this, but companies should also start encouraging continuous disinfecting and sanitary practices to prevent the second wave from hitting the office.
Here at iNX, we pride ourselves on being cleaning and sanitation experts. As a result, we’ve put together a list of best practices and recommended guidelines for our partners to implement and follow in order to preserve the health and safety of their employees and customers.
Recommendations for Planning Workplace Return
How Your Company Can Prepare
- Establish an executive policy on how personnel must act to reduce transmission in the workplace
The policy should include requirements that everyone washes their hands frequently and thoroughly, upon entering or re-entering the workplace, and after sneezing or coughing. Other examples include prohibiting cell phones in the restroom, which are known carriers of germs, and restricting employees from sharing phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment with other employees. Lastly, utilize these policies to actively encourage those who are showing symptoms to stay home. Consider adjusting workspaces for social distancing with flexible worksites, telecommuting, delivering services remotely, or delivering products through curbside pick-up or delivery to increase the physical distance between employees and others.
- Implement company-wide processes to disinfect throughout the workday
In addition to your professional recurring cleaning and disinfecting services, assign tasks to employees to disinfect common spaces and encourage employees to disinfect their workspaces several times throughout the day (especially their desktop, phone, keyboard, and mouse). Consider adding wipeable covers to your electronics and provide disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces can be wiped down by employees before and/or after each use.
- Promote respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene for employees, customers, and worksite visitors
Provide workers with up-to-date education and training on COVID-19 risk factors and protective behaviors by displaying posters that encourage hand hygiene near the entrance to your office or other areas where they are likely to be seen. Provide tissues and no-touch trash receptacles instead of the traditional ones. Place hand sanitizers in multiple locations to encourage hand hygiene. Your company might also discourage handshaking and encourage the use of other non-contact methods of greeting.
How Your Cleaning Crew Can Prepare
- Use a disinfectant cleaner instead of a neutral cleaner
When choosing cleaning chemicals, janitorial crews should refer to information on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved disinfectant labels with claims against emerging viral pathogens. Products with EPA-approved emerging viral pathogens claims are expected to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 based on data for harder-to-kill viruses. A list of products that are EPA-approved for use against the virus that causes COVID-19 is available here.
- Disinfect frequently touched surfaces regularly throughout the day
Cleaning staff should clean and disinfect all frequented areas such as offices, bathrooms, and common areas, as well as highly touched surfaces like countertops, door handles and shared electronic equipment and appliances (phones, printers, tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, ATM machines, etc.) routinely to minimize the possibility of virus transmission.
- Use microfiber flat mops instead of traditional mops
Microfibers are much more effective at cleaning compared to traditional mops because the net-like surface will attract, trap, and hold dirt in until it is time to launder. Instead of continually rinsing and wringing, the soiled microfiber mop heads are replaced with clean pads, which help to eliminate cross-contamination. All the dirty pads are then washed and readied for re-use. Additionally, because microfibers are extremely small compared to the standard mop head, they can get into the hard-to-reach areas, corners, and crannies that the traditional mopping system will not.
The iNX Difference
Since 2002, iNX Commercial Cleaning has managed janitorial services for more than 700 companies, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi (see what our customers are saying about us here). We partner with the best janitorial providers, train them to our standards, and monitor their work—so you never have to. We are a leader in the janitorial industry and pride ourselves on maintaining clean and healthy environments. If you would like additional guidance for your workplace, please reach out to us. Call 1 (888) TEAM-iNX or fill out a form to speak with us today!
