As per Bridget Gardner – a pioneer in Australia’s Green Cleaning movement also notes in her blogs that surfaces are often colonized by bacteria that make their own protective layer known as biofilms. These layers are so thick that a simple wipe, disinfectant and fogging is insufficient. Hence it is important to have a proper cleaning plan, checklist and technical know-how of how to clean schools. It is particularly of importance as children are the main occupants of these buildings and they are known to move around, touch and feel things much more than the average adult does. This can…

In a residential set-up or workplace, it is important to take care of the flooring of the establishment as it is one of the most widely used part in the space. The least thought of part of a residential or commercial property is the floor. It is also one of the most roughhoused part of the property. It is trotted on, trampled, slid on and generally the most roughly used part in a day by human occupants including little children and pets. Also, if not maintained in the right manner, it is known to accumulate dirt, dust, grime, human dead…

Hospitals and other medical centres are required to have the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitization. No cleaning service provider can afford to make mistakes or provide substandard cleaning solutions, equipments or products. If this is the case, this can seriously compromise the health of the patients and or also cause short term and long-term dangers in the medical facility.  In spite of knowing the dangers, some commercial cleaning service providers continue to provide sub-standard and unreliable cleaning practices that greatly undervalue the industry they operate in. Some of these dangers are- Lack of proper cleaning plan: Hospital-grade cleaning requires…

Using the right cleaning equipment and products ensures that the building occupants, your cleaning technicians, equipments and furnishings are protected and safe. However, with an onslaught of cleaning companies and cleaning franchises a lot of companies offer cheap and unsafe cleaning practices and services. These cause a number of hazards which are detrimental to the health of everybody involved. Some of these hazards are- Ineffective cleaning: Every cleaning product and equipment used in cleaning is researched and developed keeping a certain result in mind. If they are used in a wrong way or used inaccurately, the desired cleaning results will…

With the recent outbreak of Covid 19 Delta Variant Virus in the Central North Island, and the rumours of borders opening for Christmas,  the need for detailed cleaning and disinfecting is paramount. However, many organizations are not properly equipped with the knowledge on how to manage outbreaks through the cleaning and disinfecting process. Many Business Managers have misleading information regarding this through various unscientific claims available in the market today. For example, there are a number of 2 in 1 cleaning and disinfectant products available in the market today that claim to ‘provide lasting protection’ when used on surfaces. However, when…

Joseph G. Allen and John D. Macomber both American academicians and public health experts who authored the book Healthy Buildings advocates greatly about the need for buildings to be healthy and hygienic. They promote the fact through their findings that healthy buildings in a significant contributor in improving the overall health of its occupants. They say that this in turn helps increase the productivity and morale of the occupants and help reduce stress and spread of infections internally. The health of a building can directly affects three if not more aspects of the occupants of the building- physical health, social…

How effective is Fogging practices to contain virus outbreaks in schools and daycare centers? With the recent outbreak in virus and other sickness in New Zealand’s day care centers, the need for decontamination and sanitization is paramount. An efficient decontamination and sanitization process helps to rid the surfaces of any lingering  germs or viruses and fogging is an essential part of this. What is fogging? To understand fogging – it is the spraying of hydrogen peroxide and silver ion solution on surfaces to rid of contamination. However, it is important to note, that it has been scientifically proven and the…

When we think about cleaning, it is usually only about surface cleaning – floors, objects, table and other surfaces. However, the air that we breathe is as important as the surfaces and objects that we handle and touch. In our workplaces, on an average, an employee spends 90% or more of their time indoors. It is estimated that poor indoor air quality can cause sickness and this in turn can cost up to billions of dollars per year in lost productivity. Causes for poor air quality in workplaces - Typically, the dust found in the indoor air contain pollen, lint from carpets & upholstery,…

Most of us have grown up cleaning our own homes and have a certain awareness level as to how it works. We have been conditioned to use a vacuum cleaner for our carpet cleaning, a broom and mop for our hard floor cleaning and perhaps a ragged cloth for our window cleaning and surface cleaning. And using an aromatic disinfectant while cleaning seals the deal for us. And very often, we use the same processes when we clean our workplace too. Sounds harmless enough, right? But did you know that germs like bacteria and viruses thrive on surfaces and live in the air for days on end? Infections caused by…

Absenteeism is the continual or habitual absence of an employee from the workplace. Some of the reason for this could be familial reasons, sickness, stress or burnout and other reasons. However, sickness is one of the top reasons for absenteeism in New Zealand and a big contributor to lost man-hours and productivity in the workplace. Sickness in the workplace is a dangerous phenomenon because of its transmission rates. This is particularly true during the flu season in New Zealand. Most of the sickness is transmitted in the workplace through co-workers who interact in the same area and share common areas…

A common misunderstanding of cleanliness is that cleanliness is visual- that is, a shiny floor, a dust-free surface or a spotless mirror are all signs that the surface is now clean and sanitised. However, this is far from the truth, mainly because of two things – germs are not visible to the naked eye & secondly, a visual cognizance of cleanliness is highly subjective. Now, when we imagine a healthcare sector, it is paramount to get cleanliness ‘right’ as infections so easily pass on from one sick patient to another as immunity levels are compromised. So, evidence-based and validated cleaning…