Once places start opening up and businesses begin to run again, people need to remember not to neglect their health and safety.
People and companies should be taking active steps and creating plans for what they should do post-lockdown. The first step that all offices should be doing would be cleaning and disinfecting their workplace.
On that note, here are eight tips on cleaning and disinfecting that should help you prepare for everyone’s return to the office after the lockdown:
1. Clean before disinfecting
Cleaning and disinfecting are two different tasks that deal with improving your environment’s health and safety. Since these are various tasks, you should make sure that you do them in the right order.
At Planet Maids Cleaning Services NYC, we always tell our clients to clean first before disinfecting if you don’t know the correct order.
Cleaning the office with the help of your usual detergent or with soap and water can remove germs and bacteria already. By disinfecting after you clean, your disinfectant will be much more effective in sanitizing your workspace.
2. Use the right cleaning tools
Before you hunker down and get right down to cleaning, you have to make sure that you have all the correct cleaning tools with you. Otherwise, you’re going to make the cleaning process longer than it should be.
It would help if you created a checklist of all the cleaning tools you need depending on what or where you’ll clean. For example, your everyday cleaning tasks are very different from your deep cleaning or disinfecting tasks.
With that said, there are a few essentials that you always bring with you:
- Spray Bottle with the cleaning solution
- Gloves
- Microfiber cloths
- Trash bags
- Protective mask
- Vacuum
- Mop
Of course, you’ll need more cleaning tools, but the ones above are some that you should always have ready.
3. Always wear disposable gloves
When you’re going around the office cleaning each area, you have to make sure that you wear disposable gloves.
Gloves help keep your hands clean and prevent you from infecting yourself with germs, bacteria, and viruses. If you don’t want to cross-contaminate when cleaning between each location, you can choose to dispose of the gloves after using them in each room.
Once you’ve removed the gloves and you’ve finished cleaning the office, remember to wash your hands.
4. Use a one-way wipe down method
When you’re wiping down surfaces around the office, make sure you use a one-way wipe down method.
Going back and forth when wiping surfaces will bring about the germs you wiped in one way back the other way. That’s why you should stick to wiping in one direction and avoid going in the opposite direction once you do.
Remember to wipe down all the office surfaces, especially the ones that people use most often. For example, doorknobs are a frequently used but neglected part of the office that you should be cleaning and disinfecting.
Workstations most definitely need your care and attention. Just remember to use the one-way wiping method.
5. Use detergent and water
You don’t need to gather all sorts of cleaning solutions for different parts of the office. You can often get away with a mixture of your chosen detergent and water to clean the surfaces around your office.
When creating a system of cleaning the office, you should wipe down or clean the cleanest surfaces first. By cleaning the already clean parts before the dirtier ones, you’ll prevent germs and more to the cleaner areas.
6. Improve office’s filtration system
The air that you breathe while in the office can also use a revamp by improving the office’s filtration system.
It might be high-time for your office to upgrade its air filtration system to be more efficient and effective. An improved ventilation and filtration system in the office will help filter, remove, or reduce the air’s pathogens.
Use the MERV or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value to understand how efficient your air filter will be.
7. Don’t forget the high-touch surfaces
As briefly mentioned before, you have to make sure that you wipe down the surfaces in the office that your employees touch the most. Again, this should include your doorknobs and cabinet handles.
Aside from those parts of the office, you should also pay close attention to each workstation. Remember to wipe down not only the desk but also other items on the workstation. For example, the keyboard and mouse that they use.
It would be best if you even remembered to clean the office equipment that everyone uses. From your copier machine to the phone at the front desk, every communal item should go through a thorough cleaning and sanitation process.
8. Promote proper handwashing
Throughout the pandemic, we’ve all heard the importance of handwashing. Remember that you should be washing your hands for at least 20 seconds.
Thorough hand washing will allow you to clean your hands thoroughly. Since they’re the parts of your body that touch various surfaces, you should be extra careful of how you treat them.
Ensure that your office always has soap on hand so that everyone else in the office can practice proper handwashing.
Conclusion
Taking the time to understand and create a hygiene plan for your office post-lockdown is part of being responsible. It will help the business run smoother, and it will also help keep everyone’s welfare about working in the office in mind.
Before you open up your office after the lockdown, make sure that you run through the tips above and apply them for a smooth and easy transition back to normal.
