In the
The Field
Field
DISINFECTANTS
Product
showcase
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Spartan Chemical
Co., Inc. — Hard
[Disinfectants]
Cleaning Is
Not The Same
As Disinfecting
Surface Disinfecting
Wipes are designed for
cleanup and disinfection
of bloodborne pathogens
on hard, non-porous, inanimate surfaces in
healthcare, education and other facilities.
The wipes use a hospital-grade disinfecting
solution and EPA-registered efficacy for the
disinfection of CRE. They are available in
three fragrances.
Core Products Co.
— Hydroxi Pro cleans tile,
By Skip Seal
T
he questions have been asked: Do we
need to disinfect? Is it possible to overdisinfect? Do we disinfect, then clean?
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), when cleaning
non-critical patient areas (including common
areas in office buildings and schools), hightouch objects (HTOs) should be cleaned daily
using an all-purpose cleaner. These surfaces
should be cleaned with a one-step detergent
disinfectant cleaner if they have been in contact with known or suspected persons with
contagious disease. Think of a one-step disinfectant as an all-purpose cleaner that is
also a disinfectant.
When disinfecting is required, and a
one-step detergent disinfectant is not used,
cleaning must be performed before applying
the disinfectant, otherwise the soil remains
as a barrier between the germs and the disinfectant. Disinfectants, even one-step disinfectants, should not be used as general
cleaners; instead consider their use in the
interest of protecting human health.
One-step detergent disinfectants can be
both excellent cleaners and effective disinfectants. These products can be diluted
through a suitable dispenser providing great
economy. All disinfectants require contact
or dwell times to meet stated kill claims.
A one-step detergent disinfectant may be
an excellent cleaner but to disinfect at the
same time, it may require the sur face to
remain wet for up to 10 minutes.
End of story?
12 Contracting Profits July/August ‘13
Not quite. These answers do not address
the everyday world of most building service
contractors. There are several factors to consider when making the decision whether to
use a disinfectant or not. What areas are
included in the scope of work? Are they critical care areas in a healthcare environment
or public HTOs in office buildings, schools,
etc.? In non-healthcare buildings, is there a
known outbreak of communicable disease?
What are the customer’s expectations compared to the contract’s specifications?
Cleaning, Disinfecting, Sanitizing
When deciding what surfaces to disinfect,
any surface or object touched by hands or
skin should be considered. However, floors
are not generally considered surfaces included in those involved in the transfer of germs.
To determine the procedure, we need
to look at the difference among cleaning,
disinfecting and sanitizing. Cleaning can be
defined as the removal of substances and
germs from objects and surfaces. Referring
back to the CDC’s statement, HTOs in noncritical care areas should be cleaned daily.
Disinfecting is defined as killing germs on
objects and surfaces. Disinfecting is a normal
requirement in critical care areas of healthcare
facilities when there is a known outbreak of
communicable disease, and is part of the
cleaning process when blood or other potentially infectious material is present in the facility.
Dwell times for disinfectants means increased
labor hours over the course of the contract.
grout, hard surfaces, glass,
stainless steel, carpet and
upholstery, as well as disinfects common touch points.
The product features low volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) for reduced toxicity and
improved air quality.
Procter & Gamble
Professional —
Spic and Span Disinfecting
All-Purpose Spray and
Glass Cleaner cuts grease,
cleans stainless steel and
glass streak-free, and is a
hospital-grade disinfectant.
Comet Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner is a
non-abrasive cleaner that cleans soap scum
and tough bathroom soils. Both products
are registered with state and federal EPA.
ITW Dymon
Professional
Brands — The
Atlantic Mills
Quatguard XL is a
Quat and Chlorine compatible disposable
towel designed for the foodservice market.
Microfiber technology adsorbs sanitizer,
leaving surface tops properly disinfected and
provides up to 99.9 percent bacteria removal.
Enviro-Solutions — TES 64 is
an EPA-registered
cleaner/disinfectant
with a broad kill claim,
including influenza A,
MRSA, HIV, VRE and
more. The chemical
features a neutral pH
and is hospital use
approved.
In the Field
Sanitizing lowers the number of germs
on HTOs to a safe level, as judged by public
health standards or requirements. In addition,
sanitizers require much shorter dwell times.
Where does sanitizing fit into this discussion? Picture this: you walk into a restaurant
and while you are waiting to be seated, you
observe a person with weeping mouth sores
drinking iced tea. That person finishes their
tea, sets the glass down and departs. As luck
would have it, you are served iced tea in that
same glass, however you are safe from the
germs that caused the mouth sores. What did
the kitchen personnel do to the glass to protect
you? Disinfect? No, they cleaned and sanitized
the glass. Typically, a glass is allowed to air dry
after being dipped into the sanitizer.
Therefore, you might draw the conclusion
that cleaning and sanitizing HTOs in noncritical care areas is an acceptable, even
good practice. After all, we are not eating or
drinking from push plates and door handles.
However, studies show germs contaminate and sur vive on objects that are
Electrically-activated water
cleans no better than plain
tap water. Download
revealing independent
lab results:
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frequently touched by hands. For example,
MRSA can sur vive on hard sur faces for
months. These germs are efficiently picked
up by hands and transferred to the mouth or
to open areas on the skin. Even after hand
washing, clean hands become contaminated after touching infected surfaces.
Clear Contracts
Sanitizing high-touch objects in non-critical
care areas can be broken down into products, steps and frequency. Even though labor costs will often prohibit the dwell times
required to disinfect surfaces in non-critical
areas, I prefer to use the appropriate EPAregistered one-step detergent disinfectant to
clean by spraying and wiping HTOs with color
coded microfiber cloths. The process cleans
the surface by removing the soil and germs
with the microfiber cloth so the disinfectant
can continue to do its job as opposed to the
non-kill properties of an all-purpose cleaner.
At the very least, we are sanitizing the surface by cleaning it and providing further kill in
the wet or damp cloth, preventing the transfer of germs to other areas and/or surfaces.
As a BSC, it is important that the procedures be written, be site specific and
state how often and what HTOs your staff
will “Clean and sanitize with an EPA registered one step disinfectant” as opposed to
“Clean and disinfect with an EPA registered
disinfectant.” If the latter procedure is stated, then the dwell time must be allowed for
as prescribed in the product’s label instructions. Another optional procedure might be
“Clean HTOs daily.”
Sur faces and cleaning frequencies
should be part of the scope of work as written into new contracts. According to Dan
Wagner, director of facility service programs
and CIMS for ISSA, “It is crucial to remember that a scope of work needs to be clear,
up-to-date and does not leave anything
open to interpretation. A perfect example
would be if a scope of work states that a
contractor should ‘wipe down baseboards as
necessary’ which is likely to mean something
From chemical-free to full-strength scrubbing,
only EcoFlex™ delivers it all at the touch of a button.
Water alone can be an effective cleanser for low traffic
floors, but your cleaning challenges aren’t always that
simple. From chemical-free up to full-strength cleaning,
Advance auto scrubbers with the EcoFlex System let you
select just the right amount of cleaning power on-the-fly
at the touch of a button. Learn how the flexibility of
EcoFlex makes green sense at ecoflexsystem.com
800-850-5559 www.advance-us.com
Only EcoFlex™ gives you pushbutton
chemical-free, ultra-low detergent or full
strength cleaning modes on-the-fly.
cleaning.
July/AugustSmart
‘13 Contracting
Profits 13
™™
[Disinfectants]
Deardorff Fitzsimmons
Corp. — Activate Bleach has
been approved by the EPA to kill
Clostridium difficile (C. diff) spores
in four minutes. The one-step
cleaner and disinfectant is useful in
hospitals, nursing homes and other
institutions. The product is also
effective against MRSA and VRE.
The Clorox Co. — Clorox Hydrogen
Peroxide Disinfecting
Cleaners are a line
of non-bleach, readyto-use disinfectant
cleaners registered by
the EPA to kill germs in
30-seconds to one minute
— including MRSA,
influenza, rhinovirus and other bacteria
and viruses. Using an activated hydrogen
peroxide (H2O2) formula that breaks down
quickly into water and oxygen after use, the
cleaner is non-corrosive and leaves no active
residue behind.
Advanced Vapor
Technologies LLC —
TANCS is a hard-surface steam
vapor disinfection system that can
kill microorganisms within three
to five seconds, reduce surfacemediated infection risks and serve
as a green alternative to chemical
disinfectants. The American
Journal of Infection Control found that the system
can reduce bacterial levels by up to 90 percent and
pathogen levels on most surfaces to below the
detection limit.
Buckeye
International —
Sanicare TBX is a versatile and
powerful detergent disinfectant
that comes in a ready-to-use
formula. It’s effective against
MRSA, Hepatitis B Virus,
Tuberculosis, and HIV-1, among
many others. It meets OSHA’s
bloodborne pathogen standard and has a
pleasant lemon scent. It can also work as a heavyduty cleaner.
dramatically different to two people and can
cause confusion and unmet expectations.”
Let’s say the two people Dan is referring
to are you and your customer, and the contract is for a multi-use building. If the contract’s scope of work does not state (and
budget for) which HTOs are cleaned, how
and how often, then what is your customer’s
assumption? The assumption is probably a
high expectation that you have this subject
covered. What if there is a MRSA outbreak
amongst the occupants? Questions start
flying and fingers start pointing.
The best practice is to accurately define the cleaning specifications to allow
the labor required to clean and sanitize all
HTOs in a building. That is feasible for new
contracts. For existing contracts, be proactive and review current policies and procedures. Rewrite policies if necessary, retrain
employees and document the training.
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14 Contracting Profits July/August ‘13
Get Others Engaged
There are some HTOs that are personal items that you definitely
should not be responsible for. This should be discussed with the
customer and the offer made to provide information regarding the
cost of lost days that result from poor occupant health practices
that you have no control over. In addition to the direct costs of absenteeism, there are the hidden costs of “presenteeism.” Presenteeism is when employees come to work sick. They underperform
and their lack of productivity costs the company money. In addition,
they spread sickness to others.
Disinfectants should not be used
as general cleaners; they should
be used to protect human health
Jeff McGee, assistant director of building services at the University
of Maryland, introduced the concept of “Everyone Cleans” along with
the benefits of cleaning and sanitizing to faculty and staff. This program proves people respond positively to the facts and concerns for
their health. Be prepared with newspaper articles, statistics on surface
contamination, etc. Your supplier can be a good source of information.
Besides engaging building occupants, involve your janitors in
reviewing general procedures and updating them to make them site
specific. This engages employees while they are being trained and
engaged employees are proven to be more productive.
A performance log can serve as due diligence in the case of
an outbreak of disease. If cleaning and sanitizing of HTOs is included in your workloading inspection program, that may serve as
adequate due diligence. If not, a record or log of this may become
important in the future.
Tradition holds that a building service contractor’s signature is
created by the appearance of the floors and the cleanliness and
freshness of restrooms. With the new healthcare legislation, the
spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria into the public sector and
the risk of lawsuits, additional due diligence should be foremost in
the mind of every owner and supervisor in our industry. The health
of the occupants of your customer’s buildings rests in your hands.
I can think of no better way to enhance a BSC’s image than to
show concern for the customer’s building occupants supported by
a professional program.
Skip Seal is a trainer and consultant with more than 30 years
management experience in the cleaning industry. He is a LEED
Accredited Professional and a Cleaning Industry Management
Standard (CIMS) ISSA Certification Expert (I.C.E.). Seal and his
team offer support across the country with sales and operation
analysis, new market penetration and sales training. He can be
reached at [email protected].
July/August ‘13 Contracting Profits 15