Find out the best disinfecting cleaning tips by experts to keep employees healthy in NYC in our essential guide to business cleaning.
According to online reports, the number of positive cases of coronavirus per day in New York City has nearly doubled from two weeks ago. It would indicate that a stronger sense of urgency is required in ratcheting up CDC protocols. That includes disinfecting protocols. Indeed, it appears it is time to rely on professional disinfecting services to ensure safety for essential workers on the front-line of the COVID crisis. Whether your company hires disinfection services or not, there are still things you can do to make sure your place of business is protected.
Sit tight as we break down the top six disinfecting cleaning tips to keep you and your fellow employees in NYC safe and healthy during the pandemic.
Contents
- Our Top Six Disinfecting Cleaning Tips to Keep NYC Workers Safe
- 1. Make Sure You Are Properly Protected
- 2. Read the Label to Ensure It’s EPA Approved
- 3. Clean High-Touch Areas With Soap and Water First
- 4. Read the Disinfectant Directions
- 5. Dispose of PPE and Wash Hands Thoroughly
- 6. Lock Away Disinfectants Until Later Use
- Other Precautions to Take
- Call in the Professionals
- Professional Disinfecting Services for the Win
Our Top Six Disinfecting Cleaning Tips to Keep NYC Workers Safe
Before you get out your phone and Google professional disinfecting services near me, make sure you are aware of the protocols to keep you and your fellow front-line workers safe. Being proactive never hurts. Whether you’re a school teacher, small business owner, or a front-line worker in the health sector, it’s important to know the tips to keeping a clean working station for you, your coworkers, and your customers. If you’re in an office, it’s just as important to keep your space clean.
The tips outlined below have been researched and backed by organizations such as:
- Center for Disease Control
- Environmental Protection Agency
- New York State Government
If you follow these tips, you can ensure that you are using the exact protocols recommended by the top scientists and government organizations.
1. Make Sure You Are Properly Protected
Before you begin disinfecting any area of your workstation or business, make sure to wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE). That includes garments such as:
- Gown
- Gloves
- Face mask
While this is not a full list of PPE, it is a general list that we recommend for common surfaces. No doubt, if you’re working in a hospital or some other area that requires more protection, you may want to consider face shields, goggles, or other PPE.
Once you have the proper garments to disinfect the area, it’s time to move on to the cleaning process.
2. Read the Label to Ensure It’s EPA Approved
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it is suggested that the first step in the cleaning process is to read the label on your disinfectant. Is your disinfectant EPA approved? Not sure, check here.
To check if your disinfectant is EPA approved, you’ll have several options to choose from:
- EPA registration number (on the bottle)
- Active ingredients
- Use site (hospital, school, office, etc.)
- Contact time
- Browse all
- Keyword search
Through these options, you should be able to find out if your disinfectant is EPA approved. Given the times, you may not have a disinfectant that is EPA approved. No worries. In this case, the EPA suggests using 1/3 cup bleach to 1 gallon of room temperature water as a disinfectant.
3. Clean High-Touch Areas With Soap and Water First
After you are properly protected and are sure your disinfectant is EPA approved to guard against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the next step is to wash all surfaces, especially high-touch surfaces with soap and water first.
Why? This reduces the number of germs, dirt, and other impurities.
Make sure you wash common high-touch areas, including:
- Tables
- Doorknobs
- Light switches
- Countertops
- Handles
- Desks
- Phones
- Keyboards
- Toilets
- Faucets
- Sinks
- Cash registers
- Shopping carts
Know that your place of business may have different high-touch areas such as touch screens, gas pumps, ATM machines, and the like.
Wiping these areas, as well as others, are essential to keeping your area clean for you and your coworkers. It is important to have an established routine for cleaning and disinfecting.
4. Read the Disinfectant Directions
If you haven’t been briefed on how to use the disinfectant, you should read the directions. Things you should look for are:
- Surfaces that are considered safe to clean
- Contact time – how long it takes to work on surfaces
- Ensuring proper ventilation
Reading through the directions is just good practice. It will ensure that the disinfectant is made for the surfaces you are cleaning.
If for some reason your disinfectant is all-purpose, or you’re afraid to use it on some surfaces, remember what we said about the 1/3 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of room temperature water ratio. Adhering to the contact time is important. You want to make sure that the surface stays wet the whole duration of the contact time to kill the germs. If you’re wiping down a surface for thirty seconds and the contact time takes two minutes, you aren’t killing all the germs putting yourself and your coworkers at risk.
5. Dispose of PPE and Wash Hands Thoroughly
After you have washed and disinfected the most frequently used surfaces and high-touch areas, it’s important to dispose of any PPE. The last thing you want to do is put down a gown, gloves, or any other PPE on a surface you just washed and disinfected.
That will defeat the whole purpose and put people at risk. So make sure to dispose of all PPE in the garbage. Next, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly. You should wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. It’s important to make regular handwashing a habit. If for some reason there isn’t soap and water available, make sure to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. You should always wash your hands with soap and water if there is visible dirt on them.
6. Lock Away Disinfectants Until Later Use
Regardless of circumstance, it’s always good practice to lock away disinfectants until later use. Whether you’re in the office, at a school, or in a hospital setting, disinfectants have no use outside of their storage area when not in use. Lock them away and keep your area safe from chemicals. Making this a habit will keep you and your coworkers safe from harsh chemicals which could be dangerous to breathe or ingest.
The EPA recommends following this six-step process whenever cleaning and disinfecting your workplace, school, or any other business setting. Using these protocols and making it a habit will keep you and your NYC coworkers safe.
Other Precautions to Take
According to COVID-19 General Guidelines passed down by the state of New York, they recommend that specific precautions remain in place during the pandemic. These recommendations are not unfamiliar and follow CDC and other governmental guidelines, but are worth mentioning. They include:
- Keeping staff home if they are sick
- Having a safety plan in place for workers who use disinfectant chemicals
- Using personal protective equipment whenever necessary
- Training staff that clean and use disinfectant by following the directions on the label
- Frequently reminding workers to wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Reminding staff to not touch their eyes, nose, mouth, and face with unwashed hands
- Making sure to provide a working area that supports social distancing protocols of 6 feet or more between people whenever possible
Continue to provide face coverings at no cost to workers to ensure safe working conditions.
Call in the Professionals
With all of the precautions to keep on top of, it can be a lot to worry about making sure you’re meeting all the CDC guidelines when keeping your business safe.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or just want to be confident in your disinfecting, call on professional disinfecting services to take the lead. They have teams standing by who are ready to help make sure your business meets all federal standards and is professionally cleaned.
Here are some advantages of calling a professional disinfecting service:
- Years of service and reliability
- Professional Quality cleaning
- Disinfecting that follows CDC protocols and guidelines
Using a professional disinfecting service saves you the hassle of wondering if you’re meeting all the federal guidelines to keep your workers safe. Their crews have seen it all and know the guidelines to follow to ensure a professionally cleaned facility, every time.
Whether you need a commercial, office, or community cleaning service, a professional disinfectant service will have you covered.
Professional Disinfecting Services for the Win
If you’re looking for professional disinfecting services that will help you stay on top of all the federal guidelines, we got you. If you’d like to reduce your stress and hassle during this stressful time, call on the professionals today. We’ll ensure your business is cleaned the right way, every time.
Request a quote today, or call (888) 906-9776 and see how we can help your business stay safe and stay healthy. With close to 10 years of dependable service in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, we’ll keep your employees and customers safe throughout the pandemic.