CLEANING & HYGIENE COMMITTING TO HYGIENE


Mike Boxall, MD at Sitemark, shares the core elements needs for a best-in-class workplace hygiene programme that will reduce risk of contamination and infection, encourage behaviour change among building occupants and be simple to monitor and manage.


Businesses are keen to reopen. Employees are eager to get back into the office and see their colleagues. The Government is encouraging people to return to work and has put the responsibility for maintaining a safe environment on the employer.


That equates to a lot of pressure on building and facilities managers. A building can only reopen and stay open if there is a comprehensive workplace hygiene programme in place. Best-in-class programmes will encompass a range of factors, including a risk assessment, cleaning specification, occupant communications and behaviour change.


Here are the core elements for a best-in-class programme.


RISK ASSESSMENT A risk assessment is the first step and should be


carried out before a building or workplace reopens. The goal of the risk assessment is to provide a thorough audit of a space and act as a baseline for future assessments.


An assessment will differ slightly by organisation and the site it is being used at, but all should broadly consider five key areas. They are:


Site control – access points, visitor restrictions, door mechanisms, one-way systems.


Cleaning provision – frequency, deep cleaning, high- risk touchpoints, chemical use.


Signage and education – hand washing signage and videos, communicating new guidance, one-way systems.


Building user behaviour – hand-shaking and physical contact, workplace hygiene, dress code, home working.


Business continuity – building closure plan, deep cleaning provision and methodology, contract cleaning.


Every control factor should be scored to measure the risk. A risk assessment is vital because it will identify areas that may otherwise go unnoticed. Facilities managers should regularly revisit and carry out new assessments to address changes that have been made in the workplace, and as occupancy increases. A risk


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assessment is the foundation for a workplace hygiene programme and it is critical to take time and get it right. Only then can you move onto the next stage.


HYGIENE CLEANING SPECIFICATION We’ve all been used to judging if something is clean


from a visual standard. Now we need to promote a hygiene standard and communicate to occupiers what is being done to reach that standard. A lot of building users will need regular reassurance that their workplace is safe which a hygiene cleaning specification will help achieve.


The key part of the specification is identifying which parts of a building are at higher risk for contamination and ensuring that they are cleaned at an appropriate frequency. High-risk touchpoints include door handles, light switches, stairway railings and kitchen taps and will require cleaning throughout the day.


SIGNAGE AND LABELS Labels can be placed at high-risk touchpoints and


serve a dual purpose. They remind building users that they have just come into contact with a high-risk area and so should wash and / or sanitise their hands. Sanitation stations can be placed next to high-risk touchpoints wherever possible to make it easy for occupants to sanitise.


The labels also prompt cleaning staff to pay extra attention to these areas, both in terms of deep cleaning and frequency of cleaning. Though cleaning staff should be well versed in their responsibilities, it helps them to have additional reminders like labels strategically located around the workplace.


Signage can also be placed around the workplace to give advice and share protocols with occupants. We all recognise the importance of regular hand-washing, but it can be easy to go hours without when you are in the workplace and back in your old routine. Signage reminding people to wash their hands just helps to reinforce this new behaviour.


Positive language is always preferable – ‘Please wash your hands’ is better than ‘Don’t forget to wash your hands’ – when it comes to communicating a message.


Signage should be changed on a fairly regular basis so that it doesn’t become a part of the wallpaper and occupants stop seeing it. This can be as simple as moving signage to new positions around the workplace, or rotating different signage between set locations.


COMMUNICATION WITH BUILDING OCCUPANTS Communication needs to be clear, consistent and


frequent, and cover a range of messages. Occupants www.tomorrowshs.com


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