A serious concern in the professional commercial cleaning business is cross contamination. One of the ways we work to eliminate this concern in the facilities we service daily is with a color-coded microfiber cleaning system. These tools provide superior cleaning and reduce the risk of spreading infections and bacteria via cross-contamination. In fact, microfiber products are proven to remove 99.9 percent of microbes and 80 percent more dust and dirt than traditional mops.
The idea with color coding is that cloths, mops and brushes are assigned a different color, each representing a specific use. By clearly establishing which colors are to be used for what application, workers are less likely to cross contaminate. You can also delineate which color should be used for a specific area in a facility – such as blue cloths for general purpose cleaning in low risk areas, green for general food preparation and processing areas, red for high risk areas including toilets, urinals and floors, yellow or orange for back-of-house cleaning, and black or gray for front-of-house cleaning.
In facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, restaurants, schools and colleges, and office buildings, sickness can spread rapidly through cross-contamination. If a janitor, cleaning staff member or custodian touches something that has been infected or contaminated, and then uses a cloth or mop and transfers it to another surface, germs can be easily spread.
Incredibly, even though a restroom represents just 5 percent of a typical office building’s space, it can contain more than 80 percent of the germs in the entire location. Colored micro-fiber wipes and tools can reduce spreading germs dramatically and prevent contagions.
The most important facility where this is beyond critical is in the healthcare industry. High-profile incidents of hospital-acquired infections have increased, causing our industry to focus on developing systems to reduce this serious issue. Bottom line, you don’t want to mop a floor in a room where patients have been treated and then use that same mop to clean a bathroom floor or a workroom.
Color-coding also makes it easier to teach the systems to workers and ultimately provide a much more professional and consistent result, while lowering the chance of spreading germs. Most importantly, this technique streamlines procedures and makes consistent cleaning more effective, especially in the area of cross-contamination.
Remember great cleaning is not only about just how things look on the surface, but also the science of cleaning. The best cleaning companies understand issues like disease and infection reduction, and cleaning for health and safety. A well-trained janitorial service will not only keep your facility sparkling, but will also keep your people and customers healthier.
