Cleaning For A COVID-Safe Work Environment: What Businesses Need To Know

As we move through the government’s four-stage ‘roadmap’ to lifting lockdown restrictions, one detail that had gone slightly under the radar so far is when the ‘work from home’ instruction is likely to end.

While schools were the very first thing prioritised for reopening, the government has taken the exact opposite approach with places of work. As things stand, people will be told to work from home wherever possible until the very last stage of lockdown easing, pencilled in for June 21st at the earliest.

Of course, unlike school closures, the work from home guidance is not a hard-and-fast rule. Many businesses, many sectors simply cannot operate remotely (the cleaning industry, for one), and a majority of companies are still keeping offices open, albeit with greatly reduced staffing.

But what the June 21st date does do is offer businesses a chance to focus their minds on what needs to be done to create COVID-safe workplaces once staff return in large numbers.

Yes, a lot of people will have had their vaccinations by then. Yes, we’re hearing a lot of talk that remote working will continue to a significant degree. Yes, workplaces should already have robust protocols in place for cleaning and hygiene to prevent transmission of the virus.

But it would be wrong to get complacent at this stage. The return of workers to offices and other places of work in significant numbers will, like the re-opening of hospitality and entertainment venues and going round to other people’s houses again, surely see transmission of the virus rise.

We all know about the ‘R’ rate of a virus these days. To keep it at manageable levels when the economy takes its final steps to reopening, a major effort will be needed to do everything possible to keep transmission down. Cleaning and hygiene in the workplace will have a major role to play. Businesses have a window now to review their procedures and make them watertight.

Here’s a quick guide to advice being given by authorities including the UK government, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for effective COVID-safe cleaning and hygiene in the workplace.

Cleaning vs Disinfecting

A good place to start is by understanding the distinction between cleaning and disinfecting. Both are important to minimising the spread of germs in the workplace, but they have different and complementary roles to play.

Cleaning is a general process of wiping or washing down surfaces and objects to remove dirt, which may or may not be visible. Disinfecting is by contrast specifically aimed at killing germs using chemical agents.

In simple terms, cleaning is something you should do on a daily basis to promote good workplace hygiene. Cleaning may involve the use of soap and water, detergents or even general purpose disinfectants diluted in water. It plays an important role in reducing the number of microbes on surfaces, therefore reducing the risk of viruses being transmitted. But general cleaning will not kill all or most microbes.

That’s where disinfecting comes in. It’s much more of a ‘deep clean’ process, which may involve the use of more heavy-duty surface disinfectants, or perhaps ‘walk through’ fog or mist spray systems. This is a more laborious process which, because of the use of industrial chemicals, will usually require premises to be left vacant for a period of time afterwards so there are no health risks.

It’s therefore not practical or viable to fully disinfect premises on a day-to-day basis, and is not required by official advice. Disinfecting should be used periodically, or when COVID-19 cases have been confirmed (see below).

General Cleaning for a COVID-Safe Workspace

As a rule of thumb, the UK government advises that regularly touched surfaces should be wiped down a minimum of twice a day, one of these coming at the beginning or end of the day. For many firms, this would represent doubling the standard pre-COVID cleaning regime.

Government advice also states, however, that employers should use their discretion to clean the most regularly touched surfaces even more than twice daily, especially in communal areas of large offices and places of work where a lot of people pass through. It singles out bathrooms and kitchens for particular attention.

The HSE provides more detailed examples of the kind of surfaces that should be cleaned at least twice daily. It also emphasises the need to have clear cleaning policies and plans. These should set out clear expectations for staff about the role they have to play in maintaining a hygienic, COVID-safe work environment, such as tidying away clutter in shared areas and at their workstations to make cleaning easier.

Another reason to have a cleaning and hygiene policy is to share best practice with staff on how they can minimise the need for cleaning in the first place. Such measures should focus on reducing movement around the workplace and the need for people to touch surfaces, such as creating smaller work groups with their own designated areas and all the equipment they need day-to-day.

Disinfecting After a Confirmed COVID case

The HSE also confirms that, for day-to-day cleaning, use of regular cleaning products is fine – again, the aim of cleaning is to minimise the presence of germs on surfaces through regular action, not eliminate them completely.

One situation when full disinfecting is urged is if a member of staff tests positive after being in the office. In this situation, steps should be taken to identify all surfaces they may have touched, and disinfect them immediately. The government recommends use of a disinfectant solution at a dilution of 1,000 parts per million available chlorine (ppm av.cl.).

PPE in the form of gloves and aprons should be worn when disinfecting following a confirmed case. All PPE used, along with cloths, mop heads and so on, should be double bagged in bin liners and left in a safe, secure place for 72 hours before further disposal (after which time any coronavirus on the items would have died).

Click here to find out more about COVID-safe contract cleaning for your business.

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