In response to the coronavirus pandemic most organisations are scaling up their cleaning efforts to help prevent the spread of the virus. One area thatโs attracting particular attention is the communal toilet โ what should we be doing differently when it comes to enhanced toilet cleaning during Covid-19?
The cleaning measures you had in place prior to COVID might not be enough now. Weโve created the following office toilet cleaning checklist to help shed some light on what to do.
1. Optimise your cleaning
– The Covid-19 virus can survive on surfaces in toilet facilities for a minimum of 72 hours, so youโll need to clean toilets regularly and this should be based on a risk assessment.
– Use disinfectants instead of detergents as they are more effective against the virus.
– Focus in particular on touch points such as soap dispensers (and key fobs should be cleaned after use).
– Ramp up your monitoring of toilet facilities and have your cleaning rota on view for employees to see.
– Remove surplus items such as decorative ones that arenโt necessary โ this will save time on cleaning and reduce the number of potential touch points.
– Provide PPE to cleaning staff (At Perfect Clean, we provide our cleaners with PPE when they come to clean your office).
– Ensure all cleaning staff are trained in cleaning methods and how to use products (again, our team is fully-trained and compliant).
– Enhance the cleaning of touchpoints on the route to and from the toilets as well as in the facility itself.
2. From reusable to disposable
– Replace reusable items such as towels with disposable alternatives like paper towels to reduce the possibility of contamination.
– Make sure youโve installed hands-free bins/ disposal units.
– Provide cleaning items that staff can use, such as antibacterial wipes.
3. Communicate your expectations
– Place signs and posters around your office to create an awareness of good hygiene during coronavirus, such as increased handwashing, physical distancing, avoiding touching your face and sneezing into a tissue before disposing of it.
– Share a point of contact of someone employees can go to if they have any concerns around the cleanliness of toilets and other communal areas.
– Have a contingency plan in place should you have to close your office toilet facilities.
4. Encourage hand hygiene
– Make sure you always have a stock of liquid soap in the office toilets
– Provide hand sanitiser stations around the office so staff can also santisie when they re-enter the main office from the toilets.
– If you have push or sensor taps, consider adjusting them to ensure they are on for the recommended 20 seconds.
– Make sure youโve got paper towels or hand dryers in place.
– Reduce touch points such as internal doors that employees have to go through when they return to their desk.
– Provide hand sanitiser near the toilet facilities as well as liquid soap dispensers inside.
5. Adhere to physical distancing
– Consider limiting the number of people permitted into facilities at any one time โ place a sign on the door instructing staff to wait outside if thereโs, say, two people in there to ensure physical distancing is adhered to.
– Place physical distancing signage on the floor and on posters and implement one-way routes wherever possible.
– Think about whether it would be beneficial to put dividers in place, for instance, between sinks and urinals if thereโs not adequate space between them already and keep these clean.
6. Special circumstances
– If you, for instance, introduce more employees back into the office or use your space to host an event, consider whether you need to implement new procedures to maintain physical distancing.
– Due to physical distancing and hygiene measures, bear in mind that more facilities may be needed for the same number of people.
The Perfect Clean team is highly trained and the best position to be able to carry out your cleaning and hygiene needs during COVID. In fact, all our cleaners have received extensive professional training in line with British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICS) standards. If youโre interested in finding out more about office hygiene or would like to book one of our services, please get in touch.