The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as we know it. Most of us have spent the better part of the past two years at home and away from our workplaces. But with a national and state-level roadmap out of lockdowns now revealed, we can expect to head back to the office very soon.
But heading back to the office has put a spotlight on what businesses are doing to keep their employees safe. Because the virus that caused COVID-19 is here to stay, the onus of keeping it out of the workplace lies on employers. A part of this effort involves investing in COVID cleaning services, even after the lockdowns lift.
If there’s one good thing that has come out of this pandemic, it’s the increased focus on maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in spaces that are used frequently. And when people are sitting together for up to 9 hours a day, it is important to take the right steps to ensure their wellbeing. Here are a few reasons to continue hiring COVID cleaning services post lockdown:
High Touchpoint Area Cleaning
High touchpoint areas, such as keyboards, doorknobs, microwave and fridge handles, light switches and communal printers harbour hundreds of thousands of germs. The virus that causes COVID-19 can survive on surfaces like plastic and stainless steel for up to 3 days. This means that if an infected but asymptomatic person sneezes into his hand on Monday and uses the same hand to open doors or use the printer, another person who touches these objects on Wednesday could get infected.
Professional COVID cleaning services pay close attention to high touchpoint areas, taking care to clean and disinfect all counters, knobs, and other surfaces that are frequently used by employees. Higher grade disinfectants are specifically used on high touchpoint areas to keep the people around you protected.
Infectious Cleaning
If a person from your workforce has tested positive for the virus, every place they could have been in in the past week will need to be disinfected and deep cleaned. You will need to act on this fast and a cleaning company that can also provide a quick, professional COVID cleaning service is a necessity. These cleaners often have teams trained specifically for decontaminating places with confirmed cases of COVID and use specific high-grade disinfectants recommended best suited to the virus. They also follow the Infection Control Guidelines set out by the Department of Health to ensure your business follows government advice.
Increased Safety for Employees
Your employees expect to come back to a workplace that poses little threat to them in terms of the spread of COVID. With the average Australian employee spending up to 42 hours per week at the workplace, they now expect to spend this time in an office that is visibly hygienic and clean. No one wants to take the virus home to their loved ones, and part of the responsibility of ensuring employees and their families remain safe lies on the business itself.
Regular cleaning of the workplace and more deep-cleaning every once in a while is something employers can no longer skimp on. If you want a healthy workforce that is productive and happy, hiring professional cleaning services to prevent the spread of disease is a must. While this was true even prior to the pandemic, the importance of it has multiplied tenfold since the pandemic hit.
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 2004, employers are required to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to the health of employees. This includes preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
Reduce Downtime
Even in the pre-pandemic world, an employee who contracted the flu or stomach bug but still came in to work while infectious would spread the virus around the entire office. When an entire team is down with the flu, it can affect deadlines and productivity. While regular touchpoint cleaning is a necessity for any workplace to prevent the spread of disease, an occasional deep clean by a professional cleaning service that can provide a quick turnaround time may help reduce downtime caused by diseases.
According to the CDC, in case a member of your team tests positive for the virus and was in the building less than 7 days ago, you will need to shut down the premises until an infectious cleaning following the CDC cleaning and disinfection recommendations can be conducted. Choose a COVID cleaning service that can get right down to business to get your office up and running in as little time as possible. However, if they had been on the premises more than 7 days ago, a deep clean and disinfection are not necessary, but regularly cleaning high-touch areas is still recommended.
Some cleaning service providers may even stock up on frequently used supplies in the workplace, such as tissues, paper towels, toilet paper rolls, sanitisers, soaps and emergency cleaning kits if requested. You no longer have to worry about running out of supplies or stocking up every month. As a business owner, you have more important things to get done!
