COVID Disinfection & Commercial Janitorial Services for Daycares, Pre-Schools, Charter and Private Schools

Through September, medical professionals reported more confirmed COVID-19 cases in 277,000 school-age children in the United States. Each week, roughly 300,000 children continue to be tested. Millions more may have been exposed.

For school administrators and daycare owners, it has been a challenge to juggle remote learning, staff and teacher safety, while attempting to provide a clean, safe, and healthy learning environment.

Local janitorial staff may have traditionally handled cleaning and facility management. However, many school districts and child-care facilities have turned to commercial janitorial services to ensure thorough cleaning and disinfection and to maximize infection control. A commercial janitorial service is more likely to be fully-trained on:

• CDC guidelines for dealing with COVID and viruses
• Use of EPA-registered disinfectants
• Dealing with bloodborne pathogens
• OSHA safety regulations

Routine Cleaning and Disinfecting

A cursory cleaning that includes vacuuming, mopping, and taking out the trash is no longer acceptable. Few facilities have the resources to handle the increased cleaning and disinfecting required in today’s COVID-19 environment. Health officials recommend cleaning and disinfecting surface and high-touch objects at least daily. This includes areas such as:

• Doors and handles
• Stair rails
• Desks, chairs, and tables
• Counters
• Light switches
• Elevator buttons
• Vending machines
• Telephones
• Shared computers and electronic devices

Daycare centers, pre-schools, and schools have special needs because providing a safe and healthy environment for children is a priority. It is a big job that a commercial janitorial service can handle efficiently, it saves time, money and guarantees professional cleaning and disinfecting.

Many commercial commercial janitorial services offer options that provide more protection. For example, OpenWorks offers Continuous Care, an antimicrobial surface protectant that is applied after surfaces have been cleaned and disinfected to provide continuous protection from germs and bacteria for up to 90 days. Applying it with an electrostatic sprayer ensures 100% coverage and inhibits the growth of bacteria and microorganisms such as COVID-19.

Dealing with a COVID Outbreak

If an infected person has been in your building, it may be necessary to institute quarantine procedures and disinfect affected areas.

The CDC recommends closing off areas used by an infected person for a significant amount of time, opening outside doors and windows to increase air circulation, and waiting 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting, if possible. This allows time for any respiratory droplets to dissipate.

Clean and disinfect all areas used by the infected person with a special focus on high-touch areas. Surfaces should first be cleaned with detergent and water. Then, an EPA-registered disinfectant for use against SARs-CoV-2 should be applied. Surfaces should stay wet long enough for the disinfectant to reach maximum efficiency.

Many schools choose to contract with commercial janitorial services, such as OpenWorks for electrostatic spraying for a deeper level of protection. Electrostatic spraying applies disinfectant by creating charged particles that adhere to objects. These particles form tight bonds and wrap around objects for more complete coverage.

Working with a Commercial Janitorial Service

Working with a commercial janitorial service gives you the peace of mind that you are taking every precaution to maintain a safe, healthy, and clean space for your staff and students.

When evaluating commercial janitorial services, look for companies that have decades of experience and staff who are specially trained to work in schools. You need to work with professionals who can provide services you need, such as:

• The flexibility to work with school calendars to accommodate breaks and vacations so you can optimize your budget.
• The ability to standardize commercial janitorial services across campuses, school districts, or multi-site locations. This provides cost savings, uniform cleaning and disinfecting practices, and provides a single point of contact.
• The use of Green Clean programs that require the use of environmentally-friendly cleaning products and low-impact cleaning equipment.
• The use of EPA-approved antimicrobial disinfectants to help improve infection control and prevent the spread of germs that can lead to infections such as COVID-19 or influenza.
• The ability to do deep cleaning (per CDC guidelines).
• The use of electrostatic spraying for wrap-around disinfection coverage.

Your commercial janitorial services provider should also be able to respond and recover from biohazards. Look for a company that has certification from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (a division of ISSA).

OpenWorks elite network of service providers checks every box when it comes to cleaning and disinfecting your educational facilities. With more than three decades of commercial janitorial experience, we offer fully-trained and certified professional cleaners who help you create a safer, healthier, and cleaner facility.

There is another advantage to working with an OpenWorks service provider. If you have other maintenance needs such as landscape maintenance, pest control, HVAC service, plumbing, electrical & lighting or general handyman services, OpenWorks can handle them for you. This gives you one central point of contact instead of working with multiple vendors and a single invoice to pay.

Contact OpenWorks Today

OpenWorks’ elite network of service providers prides themselves on their work. They take the job seriously, especially when it comes to creating a safe and healthy place for students, teachers, and staff.

Contact OpenWorks today to get an estimate for commercial janitorial service at your educational facility.