Germs have become scarier than ever after the coronavirus outbreak.
Businesses that are thinking of reopening are increasingly considering disinfection processes and services to make visitors and employees feel more confident to enter their commercial facility.
Professional disinfection plays a major role in allaying the fear of germs, microbes, bacteria, fungi, and viruses among other pathogens.
Why Do People Get Germophobic?
Germophobia is a psychological condition in which there is a pathological fear of germs, bacteria, and viruses, which is similar to some anxiety disorders.
Germaphobia is also known as verminaphobia, mysophobia, and bacillophobia. It is no longer associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
An increasing number of people have a pathological fear of germs and decontamination in their daily life now.
People with germaphobia avoid being exposed to germs, as they fear contamination and infection.
Germs are everywhere. In today’s world, there is increasing awareness about Coronavirus (COVID-19).
People with germaphobia might demonstrate physical symptoms or visual actions or signs such as obsessively washing their hands, bathing multiple times per day, or continuously cleaning surfaces in efforts to reduce contamination.
They are also likely to be maintaining cleanliness, sanitization, and disinfection at their homes as well.
Your employees may not feel comfortable coming to work if they are unsure of facility sanitization and disinfection.
This is particularly true for people suffering from germophobia.
About COVID-19
Covid-19 is a relentless disease caused by the newly identified coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.
The virus was first identified by the World Health Organization on 31 December 2019.
This was following an isolated cluster of viral pneumonia cases in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China.
Countries all across the world have taken concrete steps to reduce the spread of this virus.
CDC guidelines have been issued for the reopening of businesses in the post-pandemic world.
The COVID contraction
Different people get affected differently by Covid-19.
Most people contracting the infection develop mild to moderate symptoms and can recover without being hospitalized.
Younger and older people are infected by the coronavirus alike.
Older people and those with heart diseases, diabetes, and asthma among other pre-existing medical conditions are more susceptible to becoming severely ill.
People of all ages are advised by the WHO to take concrete steps for protecting themselves against the virus.
Good respiratory and hand hygiene is promoted.
The virus is believed to spread basically through close contact between two people.
The virus can also be spread by people that are infected but are asymptomatic.
Disinfection Services
Frequent and regular disinfection can help reduce the spread of disease-causing pathogens in your building.
The applier can determine the frequency of surface cleaning.
However, it is recommended that all high-touch and porous surfaces be wiped down with a disinfectant at least once a day.
You should also consider deep cleaning and disinfecting from a professional facility maintenance company.
This is particularly important if any of your employees come down with the flu or any other virus/bacterial infection.
Workspaces need to be healthy and clean as is demonstrated by the continued spread of the new coronavirus.
It has been proven that the act of disinfecting hard surfaces can significantly reduce the risk of infection spreading.
What is a disinfection service?
Covid-19 forced most businesses to temporarily shut down their office spaces amidst fear of virus contraction.
Your employees would want to know their restrooms, workspaces, door handles, light switches, and other touchpoints are properly disinfected when they return to their workspaces.
Disinfection involves the usage of EPA-certified chemicals for killing germs on surfaces.
Disinfection may not necessarily clean the surface or remove dirt from it. However, it makes sure that there are no germs present on the surface that may spread infection.
In fact, a disinfection service when performed by a professional can remove 99.99% of contaminants.
You can choose among a wide variety of services, such as:
- Wiping down all surfaces with a disinfectant cleaner
- Upholstery and carpet cleaning and sanitizing
- Handrails and ceiling cleaning
- Technologically advanced sanitizing for all high-contact surfaces and touchpoints
- Regular office sanitization
What is the difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting?
Many people believe that disinfection, cleaning, and sanitization are the same things.
However, there are several differences in these three concepts:
- Cleaning: Involves physically removing dust, dirt, and germs from objects or surfaces. Cleaning typically uses soap or detergent with water and may not necessarily remove all germs.
- Disinfection: Involves applying chemicals such as bleach or alcohol for killing germs. Disinfection does not necessarily remove dirt or otherwise clean a surface
- Sanitization: A surface may be sanitized by cleaning, disinfecting, or both. Sanitization is achieved by lowering the presence of germs to a “safe” level in compliance with standards issued by the CDC, EPA, and other regulatory or public health agencies.
The risk of spreading infection can be further lowered if you clean and disinfect a particular surface.
Several products can take care of both at the same time.
Your building cleaning service should be able to help you with certain chemicals that can act as cleaners, disinfectants, and sanitizers.
It is important to clean and disinfect all regularly touched surfaces in your office complexes, such as doorknobs, faucets, toilets, keyboards, tabletops, and other areas.
What pathogens are killed by disinfection?
Disinfectants are strong chemical agents that destroy or inactivate microorganisms on inert surfaces.
Covid-19 is a highly contagious disease that has compelled many businesses to consider the benefits of frequent disinfection.
Several diseases can be thwarted by promoting regular disinfection, including Covid-19.
It is important to understand how disinfectants work since they are of several different types.
You should know the kind of pathogens that can be killed by them to make an informed decision on disinfecting and protecting the people within your facility.
Disinfectants can be used for destroying, viruses, fungi, bacteria, mildew, and mold. It is important that facility managers only make use of formulas that are registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
These are a few prevalent pathogens that can be destroyed by disinfectants:
- Parvovirus
- Coronavirus
- Norovirus
- Rhinovirus
- Influenza
- H1N1
- Swine flu
- Staph
- Scabies
- Tuberculosis
- E. Coli
- Salmonella
- Listeria
- MRSA
- C. Diff
Each disinfectant formula contains an active ingredient that kills pathogens by damaging or disrupting their cells.
Active ingredients get helped by other ingredients in the disinfectant.
For instance, many disinfectants come with surfactants that can aid in better cleaning of surfaces.
Coronavirus is an emerging pathogen as labeled by the EPA. You must choose those disinfectants that are designed to be effective against it.
You can read whether your particular disinfectant is capable of destroying the coronavirus or not on the label.
How to disinfect
There are many viruses and germs on the surface of your workstation.
You need to keep these surfaces clean if you want to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
Work surfaces that should be paid special attention include computer equipment, telephones, and other frequently touched surfaces.
Make sure any cleaner or disinfectant you use is safe for office equipment and won’t damage it.
In fact, you should only make use of disinfectants that are registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
You must also follow all safety precautions and directions indicated on the label.
U.S. businesses are now being urged by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to routinely and vigorously wipe down workplace surfaces for containing the spread of this potentially deadly virus.
These are a few tips on ensuring the facility is cleaned and disinfected properly:
- Wipe down: You should have your cleaning staff wipe down all surfaces in one direction. They should not go back in the opposite direction since that would just redeposit the germs that were cleaned. All frequently touched surfaces should be routinely wiped down. This includes countertops, workstations, and doorknobs.
- Color coding: You can color codes for your clothes so that you don’t end up cross-contaminating surfaces. For instance, bathroom cloths and kitchen cloths can be separately color-coded.
- Smart spray: Common disinfectants on the bottle may claim to kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, including flu strains, salmonella, and E. coli. However, you need to make sure the disinfectant would work against coronavirus as well. There are certain tests conducted by the EPA to determine the efficacy of a few disinfectants against coronavirus. You should make sure to use these disinfectants.
- Technological disinfectants: In-house janitorial team doesn’t have the bandwidth to understand the scope of disinfection. Professional disinfection service providers will make sure to wipe down mouses, laptops, and cell phones to minimize the risk of the spread of coronavirus.
Disinfection is just one part of the battle won.
The real war is to make sure that everyone in the office facility practices safe distances and good hygiene.
Businesses can promote these habits by posting signs everywhere for frequent hand washing.
Employees would remember to wash their hands and sanitize using an alcohol-based sanitizer.
This can help prevent the spread of coronavirus to a significant extent.
Protecting against future germ growth
Viruses and germs including the novel coronavirus spread when someone touches a contaminated surface and then touches their nose, mouth, or eyes.
These germs can also spread between two people.
Viruses carrying droplets from the sneeze and cough of an infected person can move through the air and contaminate any surface or object they come in contact with.
Facility managers and business owners need to take proactive steps towards germ prevention around their work area.
Employees won’t feel safe to come back to work unless they know that there are adequate measures in place to make the workspace healthy, clean, and safe.
It is not just enough to have the facility disinfected once.
You need to take measures to prevent the spread of viruses.
These are a few ways of promoting a healthier working area for your employees, clients, and other business stakeholders.
1. Professional disinfection and cleaning
Office equipment including PCs, monitors, keyboards, and telephones among others are the most touched surfaces in any office setting.
You should have a professional contamination control and disinfection service provider come in and sanitize these surfaces.
You can have them come in when nobody else is around to ensure a seamless and thorough cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitization.
You can make sure diseases don’t spread among your employees or clients by taking this step.
In the long run, you would notice the investment in having your building disinfected pays off through fewer employee sickness, reduced time off work, and increased productivity.
2. Making disinfectant wipes available to employees
You should provide all your employees with sanitizing spray and wipes to enable them to keep their areas clean and germ-free.
They can use disinfectant wipes on their keyboards, mouses, monitors, and other frequently touched surfaces.
You could also post signs to train your employees to pay special attention to areas that come in frequent contact.
3. Encourage best practices for OSHA
The best way to curtail the spread of coronavirus or any other disease-causing pathogen is to avoid releasing respiratory droplets in the air in the first place.
You cannot tell if a surface is contaminated by looking at it.
This is why it is important to take all necessary measures to not contaminate the surfaces in the first place.
Important Industry-Specific Disinfection Services
Disinfection services are highly customizable.
This is why it is important to work with a service provider that understands the job thoroughly based on your industry. Different types of office settings have different disinfection requirements.
While choosing a professional disinfection service provider, you should take care to find one that has experience in your particular field.
Earlier, commercial disinfection services used to be considered by hospitals, healthcare facilities, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, schools, daycares, veterinary clinics, medical offices, retail, restaurants and bars, gyms, and other businesses.
However, now they are increasingly being considered by businesses from all sectors.
And, this is not just because having professional disinfection and cleaning is recommended by the CDC and OSHA.
Why should you invest in Disinfection Services?
These are a few reasons to consider investing in a professional and experienced disinfection firm:
Have thorough knowledge of their job
Professional cleaning firms are pros at their jobs.
They have a unique insight into the areas that need cleaning.
Commercial cleaning services speak with the clients and understand their needs before drafting a plan to deliver it.
The cleaning technicians will come with professional cleaning chemicals and equipment to ensure that every corner and surface is optimally disinfected.
A safe process for boosting productivity
Employees are like customers in the post-pandemic world.
They need to be made to feel safe and confident in their work area.
You can instill this confidence by ensuring their workspace is regularly cleaned, maintained, and disinfected.
Dirty surroundings can affect employee productivity and mental health.
A consistent professional cleaning will help ensure that your employees work to their fullest.
Infection control
Having a workspace that is clean and safe is very important in this age of pandemic.
In normal times as well, a single sick employee can make others around them ill.
The productivity of entire departments can get affected as more and more employees request time off work.
Periodic disinfecting and deep cleaning are essential for stopping the spread of all types of pathogens.
They play a major role in keeping employees healthy and happy.
Reduced stress
Facility managers can benefit from reduced stress over cleaning by hiring professional facility maintenance firms.
The in-house janitorial team usually covers only basic cleaning needs.
There may be a feeling of cleanliness in the office premises, but the area may not necessarily be germ-free.
This can cause increased stress.
Reputable and hard-working cleaning services can help you save money as well as prevent worry in the long run.
How To Choose A Disinfection Service Near Me?
There is nothing worse than hiring a disinfection company only to see them mess up.
Your business cannot be exposed to that kind of risk.
You need to ask the commercial disinfection provider all the right questions to get the desired results.
The right questions will help you attain an insight into the kind of services, quality, skills, and care offered.
- Are your disinfection products effective in destroying the new coronavirus?
- Can your methods address airborne disease-carrying particles?
- Can you show that the cleaning and disinfection were effective?
- How is biofilm addressed by the cleaning crew?
- How do you plan on disinfecting my facility?
- Do you have any measures in place in case the cleaning crew makes a mistake?
Asking these and other questions is the difference between opening yourself to liability and being properly disinfected.
Work With the Preferred Choice for Professional Disinfecting Services
The importance of disinfection cannot be stressed enough in a workplace in the post-pandemic era.
Germophobia has become more common than ever before with many people worrying about safe and healthy working areas and surfaces.
If you are considering reopening your business, you should work with cleaning and disinfection professionals to ensure your employee and client’s health and safety.
The team at Servi-Tek is experienced, knowledgeable, and capable as a facility maintenance provider.
Give us a call today at (866) 454-6185 or use our online contact form to understand how best we can help you ensure a clean and safe working environment.
