Fall has arrived, bringing with it the return of cold and flu season. It's also a great time to double-check that your cleaning routine is up to the task of avoiding the spread of these and other dangerous diseases.
Rather than judging cleanliness using quantitative criteria, visual standards are frequently used to assess the visible levels of filth and grime. Unfortunately, this strategy can be harmful to one's health and well-being, as well as becoming increasingly expensive. The social and economic expenses of a dirty school can be greatly minimized with the right execution of a high-performance cleaning and maintenance program.
What are the true expenses?
In the United States, students miss 38 million school days every year on average due to the flu. When you consider that persistently absent students are 7.4 times more likely to drop out, it's a scary statistic. An unclean atmosphere might also hinder a student's capacity to learn. Contaminants such as dust and allergies can reduce cognitive abilities by two to six percent, including typing, arithmetic, logical reasoning, memory, and creative thinking.
When pupils become unwell, it is more likely that instructors and staff will fall ill as well. Teacher absences cost the United States $25 billion per year. This is before the additional $4 million costs of replacing teachers with substitutes. Allowing unclean school environments to persist quickly becomes a comparable cost to investing in practices to mitigate these harmful consequences.
What options do you have?
Although children may inevitably become unwell from time to time, implementing a good cleaning program can reduce the likelihood of pupils and staff contracting the flu by up to 80%. These five methods can help your school prevent viruses and other infections from spreading.
Teach people about germs.
One of the first steps in constructing effective cleaning methods is to understand the fundamental facts about germs, viruses, and other environmental pathogens. Provide basic but fundamental information to teachers and employees to raise their understanding and appreciation of the critical function of cleanliness in maintaining our health:
One of the most common ways germs are spread is by contacting a contaminated surface and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Cold and flu viruses can survive for up to 48 hours on surfaces. Some germs can survive for months on surfaces, increasing the number of people who get sick and the length of their illness.
Take a look around your campus.
What are the most common surfaces with the highest contamination levels? Stair rails, doorknobs, water fountains, and sink surrounds are likely to be on this list, as will any surface with a "high contact" point, meaning those that are touched the most frequently by the most people. The quantity of environmental pathogens present on any given surface is greatly reduced when these surfaces are cleaned and disinfected regularly and thoroughly by a School Cleaning Services in Bromsgrove for example.
Choose your products carefully
The disinfection chemicals your facilities management team employs must be effective against the microorganisms found in your school's environment. Find products that are designed to fight cold and flu germs.
Ensure proper cleaning and disinfection.
Cleaning and disinfection products should always be used according to the guidelines on the label. It's worth noting that most disinfection products' instructions state that the surface must first be cleaned. To kill germs, clean surfaces with a general-purpose cleaner and then disinfect using an EPA-registered disinfectant.
Encourage people to wash their hands.
One of the most critical precautions we can take to avoid getting sick and distributing germs such as influenza or cold virus to others is to keep our hands clean. The most efficient technique to remove germs from the hands is to wash them with soap and clean running water. If soap and water are not available, hand sanitizers can be used instead.
It's no secret that school funds are being slashed. As a result, the overall state of cleanliness is deteriorating. Only 43.5 percent of school districts currently give infectious illness prevention recommendations, as cleanliness is typically defined solely by visual examination. Implement the methods described above to establish a healthy environment for your children, instructors, and staff to tackle this issue and lessen the negative effects on your school.