cleaning
products, equipment and procedures in healthcare settings that
are used in offices, schools and other facilities may not be
enough to ensure a sanitary environment in places where 100,000
people a year catch infections that kill them.
“Most janitorial contractors today still use
buckets, mops and wipers without the specialized equipment,
chemistry knowledge and cleaning processes required to remove
unseen pathogens and avoid cross-contamination,” said Peter
Sheldon, vice-president of operations for Coverall Cleaning
Concepts. “They don’t remove soil and microbes; they just move
them around.”
Coverall has spent more than a year developing
and testing a dedicated system tailored to the needs of
healthcare facilities, and it has paid off in a noticeable
difference in appearance, upkeep and infection control, said
Sheldon.
Coverall has developed a proprietary cleaning
system for healthcare facilities that merges procedures,
equipment and best practices that address the special challenges
of all healthcare settings, delivering better overall cleaning
results
as well as efficiencies, resulting in a higher level of
infection control.
As part of this effort, Coverall has partnered
with Kaivac in an effort to redefine the term ‘clean’ in order
to protect the public health.
That partnership will build on Kaivac’s
‘No-Touch Cleaning’ equipment, Coverall Cleaning Concepts’
proprietary healthcare cleaning system, and the commitment of
both firms to scientific cleaning and sanitizing for disease
control.
Under the agreement, the companies will work
together to develop tools and define best practices for
deep-cleaning areas such as exam rooms, operating rooms and
gurneys that are specific to healthcare environments. Efforts
will also focus on increasing productivity to reduce cleaning
costs, measuring residues of contaminants such as urine and
bacteria after cleaning, and using those measurements as a basis
for establishing cleaning industry standards.
The new tools and processes will be based in
part on Kaivac’s family of spray-and-vac machines that provide
environmentally friendly cleaning and automatic chemical
preparation without requiring workers to touch soiled or
contaminated surfaces.
Tests have shown that the integrated pressure
washer/wet vacuum machines leave far fewer surface contaminants
in locations such as restrooms than cleaning with string mops.
The machines also reduce labor, chemical and equipment costs,
cutting cleaning time by two-thirds.
The joint development project will also leverage
Coverall Cleaning Concepts’ experience with more than 8,000
healthcare accounts, as well as its cleaning program for
non-residential medical facilities. That program includes the
use of hospital-grade germicides and disinfectants, flat
mopping, microfiber color-coding, certified healthcare cleaning
technicians, and other tools and techniques to reduce
cross-contamination and aid infection control.
Coverall Cleaning Concepts’ proprietary
healthcare system employs the use of color-coded microfiber
technology to ensure a sanitary environment and reduce the risks
associated with nosocomial infection, contributing proactively
to an infection control program in your facility.
The typical colors are red,
blue, green and yellow. Red is used in spaces where biohazards
may be present. Blue equipment will be found in other specific
areas, and green and yellow will isolate equipment to be used in
restrooms.
“The rest is training,” said
Sheldon. “For example, in a total flat mopping system, mops are
never dipped back into cleaning solution. We train our staff to
recognize that flat mopping is extremely efficient and increases
productivity.”
He said the benefits of
microfiber technology include the following:
• Microfiber attracts dirt,
grease and grime with its small angled edges along the fibers
that pull in and attract dirt leaving the surface truly clean.
• Microfiber absorbs twice the
amount of water than cotton and other cleaning fibers in half
the time.
• Microfiber’s durability
allows it to be washed and reused, reducing pollution and
chemical hazards.
• Microfiber is completely
lint-free and non-abrasive.
• Studies show a distinct
advantage in the removal of pathogens by utilizing microfiber.
• Increased productivity by
the use of EPA recommended microfiber flat mopping.
“Kaivac and Coverall Cleaning
Concepts share a common vision focused on raising the bar in the
cleaning industry by cleaning to protect health rather than just
for aesthetic appearance,” said Bob Robinson Sr., president and
CEO of Kaivac Inc.
“By combining our cleaning
science with their two decades of experience in commercial
cleaning, this strategic partnership promises to quickly advance
the cleaning to promote health movement in healthcare and
eventually in other markets.”
The system combines a variety
of tools and techniques adapted from methods used and/or
recommended by surgical centers, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Healthcare Organizations, and other sources.
Components include the use of
hospital- grade germicides and disinfectants and procedures
designed to prevent germs and pathogens from being transported
from room to room; microfiber cloths and flat mops that have
been proven to be more effective for deep cleaning than
conventional loop mop products; color-coding of these cloths and
mops to reduce the risk of cross contamination that can spread
disease; and a special floor cleaning procedure that produces
cleaner and shinier floors with a more durable finish that
reduces maintenance tasks such as stripping and refinishing.
The system was developed at 12
unique healthcare facilities over the past year, including a
dialysis center, radiology center, clinic, podiatry office,
dental office, hospice center, blood center and outpatient
facility.
Elimination of cross
contamination has been a part of Coverall’s health based
cleaning initiative for more than a year, said Sheldon, leading
to a fundamental shift away from how the janitorial business has
been executed and evaluated.
“Aesthetic appearance is not
what it’s about today,” said Sheldon. “We have to clean at
an unseen microbial level.”
❑
