Still cleaning for health, but better
By Lori Strazdas, MPH, Public Health Liaison, CloroxPro
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that germs existed before COVID-19. I assure you they did, but the truth is the pandemic has become a catalyst in all our lives that sparked an immediate reverence and awareness about the importance of cleaning for health. With that came an acute mindfulness of the critical role that commercial cleaners play in helping to prevent the spread of germs in shared and public spaces.
From the start of the outbreak, commercial cleaning professionals have been thrust into the spotlight and classified as frontline essential workers. With a new emphasis on safeguarding public health, the bar for what was considered “clean” was raised, and many habitual cleaning practices were no longer enough. However, many cleaning professionals remain unsure what this means they should do differently and, importantly, how to do this efficiently and safely.
Cleaning and disinfecting beyond the pandemic
Research shows that heightened consumer interest and demand for maintaining cleaning and disinfecting routines in public spaces, continues to be top of mind. In fact, 60% of Americans bring disinfectants with them regularly to disinfect high-touch surfaces outside of the home.[1] Rightfully so, because there are many other germs beyond COVID-19 that commonly spread via surfaces — such as cold and flu viruses, norovirus and MRSA. Outbreaks caused by these germs aren’t new and can disrupt, or even shut down, schools and other facilities that communities rely on every day. As a result, cleaning for health will remain a key part of a holistic strategy to help reduce this risk.
The pandemic highlighted the need for a more balanced approach to disinfection that can be sustained long-term. CloroxPro refers to this approach as Smart Disinfection, which, as its name suggests, emphasizes that there is a time to clean and a time to disinfect.
Smart Disinfection means targeting “higher-risk surfaces” and “higher-risk areas” to help reduce the transmission of germs that can cause illness, including increased occasions where populations are more vulnerable to infections such as daycares, schools, and eldercare and healthcare facilities.
CloroxPro is innovating for the cleaning professional
In a recent survey of facility managers and buildings service contractors, 91% say the staff at their company or facility have had to learn new cleaning and disinfecting protocols, and 96% say that janitorial staff are asked to do more now to help provide greater confidence to occupants and visitors.[2] But training programs have not kept up with the needs of the industry.
To make this type of knowledge and education accessible, CloroxPro has developed CloroxPro™ HealthyClean™, a new online learning platform that delivers best-in-class education and training to help ensure cleaning professionals get the knowledge and skills needed to clean for health effectively, efficiently and safely. HealthyClean offers the only industrywide certificate course designed for the commercial cleaning industry to be accredited by the American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board. The training covers actions that can be taken to do the job safely and effectively, the science behind how germs spread, and provides easy-to-follow procedures and best practices to ensure facilities can be cleaned and disinfected in a way that is efficient and sustainable long-term.
Discover more at CloroxPro.com/HealthyClean.
[1] Clorox Custom Research, Clean Confidence Index: Wave 2 (n=2000), February 2021
[2] Clorox Professional Online Facility Manager/Builder Service Contractor Study, October 2021