WASHROOM Hazard Perception
Trudy Dempsey, Business Services Manager for Monthind Clean, explains some of the challenges companies and their operatives can face when it comes to washroom cleaning.
In the workplace, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 give employers a legal duty to protect the health and safety of employees, and anyone else that may be on the premises. These regulations apply to every aspect of an organisation including cleaning, whether it is a large industrial facility or a small office set-up. From the storage and use of chemicals to colour coded mops and cleaning cloths, the regulations are in place to protect those carrying out the cleaning and anyone working or visiting the premises.
When it comes to washroom cleaning the potential for contamination rockets, and the need for specialist training for cleaning operatives increases. Biohazards such as bodily fluids and faeces can carry viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, and the safe decontamination and cleaning of areas that have been soiled by a bio-hazardous incident are vital to reduce and eliminate the risk of infection from exposure. It’s not surprising that many organisations choose to outsource their cleaning tasks rather than be bogged down with staff training, risk assessments, safe systems of work, chemical management and auditing.
Trudy Dempsey, Business Services Manager for Monthind Clean, comments: “You can never be sure what you are going to find in a washroom! From body fluids to drug paraphernalia, and just about everything in between, it is imperative that cleaning operatives are trained in the safe handling and disposal of soiled items and sharps. We train our operatives in the handling and disposal of sharps as well as biohazard
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procedures, and if necessary they can call on the services of our dedicated biohazard team.”
Safe systems of work, colour coded cleaning equipment and on-going staff training, combined with high levels of management checks and auditing, ensure the risks of contamination are minimised. Trudy continues: “A recent survey has revealed alarming statistics regarding handwashing, and the importance of taking a ubiquitous biohazard approach to the
handling and disposal of soiled items and sharps.”
“It is imperative that cleaning operatives are trained in the safe
cleaning of washrooms couldn’t be better illustrated. Of 100,000 people anonymously monitored, only 38% of men and 60% of women washed their hands after using the toilet! When you consider that you have, on average, 200 million bacteria per square inch on each hand after going to the toilet, and how easy it is to transfer the bacteria via everything you touch, you won’t be surprised to learn that office workers come into contact with an average 10 million bacteria every day. Translate that into potential sickness absence, and its associated costs and the benefits of outsourcing to a skilled workforce becomes clear.
Trudy continued: “We risk-assess every contract before inception, and make sure our written procedures are easy to understand, listing chemicals, cleaning equipment, PPE, a step-by-step method of cleaning and how to deal with specific contaminants such as faeces, urine, or vomit. We value our staff and clients, so we make sure our staff do everything to keep our clients safe and we, in turn, do everything we can to look after our workforce.
“There’s nothing more pleasant than walking into a washroom that looks spotlessly clean and tidy and smells fresh, and this isn’t difficult to achieve and doesn’t cost the earth. Laundered towels, branded soaps and moisturisers and automatic air-freshener sprays do cost money but what the majority of us are happy to accept is basic hygiene and cleanliness with a bit of TLC thrown in. Add a safe system of cleaning to the mix and you are reducing the risk of infection and contamination in your washroom, and beyond.”
www.monthindclean.co.uk www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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