Does Your Business Require COVID19 Decontamination Services?
How we can help you?
COVID19 has changed our world and whilst our industries services are a good line of defence (information below) any website can assist in reiterating the governments guidelines:
What lessons has the Cleaning Industry learnt to assist our Clients?
The first question we need to ask, and answer is how long does Coronavirus survive?
A study from the New England Journal of Medicine investigated how long SARS-CoV-2 would survive on various surfaces, including plastic, stainless steel, copper, and cardboard. The findings suggest that the virus could survive for:
3 hours in the air
4 hours on copper
24 hours on cardboard
72 hours on plastic and steel
What Cleaning methods are there to remove COVID?
Firstly, it is important to understand What is the difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting?
Cleaning is the removal of debris such as organic and inorganic material (often called soil) from objects and surfaces. Sanitizing is the reduction, not killing of organisms on a surface. Disinfecting is the ‘killing’ of microscopic organisms on a surface.
Therefore, the first line of attack is for the occupier of the building/rooms to ensure that they are doing the practical things in terms of Cleaning and Sanitizing that the government have endorsed as all these things assist in keeping COVID19 at bay (For further information Check Government website:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19
The second line of support is where industrial cleaning companies can use fogging equipment/chemicals to kill the organisms within COVID19 and make areas habitable.
What is Fogging?
Fogging is used for the application of disinfectants, biocides and pesticides. The fogging equipment generates a fog or mist of ultra-low volume (ULV)droplets. Through vaporisation, airborne and surface-based pathogens are destroyed so there is no need to move items within the area. Fogging is probably the quickest and easiest way to disinfect large areas with minimum of disruption. In essence Fogging ensures that all items are disinfected via the air as well as any surface/items the equipment is pointed at.
Are there different types of Bacterial Fogging?
Yes – two key types – Cold Fogging and Electrostatic Spraying.
Cold Fogging basically spreads the disinfectant via a machine around the room and is effective in what it does to a room. Its major limitation is that there is no guarantee that it reaches all areas of items – for example unless sprayed directly at it will not get into groves in desks or gaps in tables.
The alternative solution is electrostatic spraying – this is a method of applying a coating of disinfectant which involves applying an electric charge to the solution and in effect creates a 3D Wrapping effect. The particles in the spray are positively charged and therefore allows the disinfectant to wrap around and evenly coat all types of surfaces for complete coverage.
Is Fogging really required?
Whilst traditional cleaning is a key part of keeping bacteria and viruses at bay, fogging and spraying is a better solution for destroying airborne pathogens, disinfecting large areas quickly ensuring more thorough disinfection to areas that may be missed or are out of reach.
The key question is Is Fogging really required?
It all depends on how much you want to minimise the risk of virus outbreaks. Fogging (both types) are exceptionally thorough, destroying germs, bacteria, and viruses fast and ensuring all previously infected areas are disinfected.
COVID19 Decontamination Procedure
It is important that there is a carefully planned approach when decontaminating any required areas. This is important not only to protect the technical engineers involved in the work but also to ensure that the rooms are safe on completion of the agreed wait period.
Therefore, it is important to assess the room/building and create a site-specific risk and method statement and follow this up with a detailed work plan for the team. Then ensure that the team wears appropriate PPE and follow correct gown/de-gown procedures and use only the approved chemicals. Finally ensure that approved cleaning methods and disposal of waste is agreed with the client. In order to ensure that we operate in a structured process we have produced our own Decontamination Procedure for all teams (see attached).
Summary
Europa-VCS offer a similar professional solution to their other deep cleaning services. We use good effective products to ensure excellent results whilst ensuring that our staff are well trained and maintained with the correct PPE.
As we operate with a low central cost and therefore always offer value for money in all services provided – We are able to offer both Decontamination services (Cold Fogging and Electrostatic) at a fraction of the cost of the larger companies.
