Is Your Work Environment Safe for Staff & Customers?

Cleanliness is now top of mind for everyone. How do you know your work space is safe for staff and customers?

Coronavirus has significantly changed the way staff and customers think about common daily interactions within building and office environments. More than ever, they have an acute awareness of a facility’s overall cleanliness and hygienic safety, and the assurance of a clean, healthy space is now a driving force in the market.

Before Coronavirus most businesses and organizations, outside of the healthcare industry, didn’t give janitorial services high priority in terms of budgeting and planning. While a clean appearance has always been important, the need for services to prevent infection wasn’t critical. Because of the pandemic it now is and in at least one state, Pennsylvania, regular cleaning and disinfection is mandated by law for buildings over 50,000 square feet.

Customers and employees returning to reopened offices want to feel safe, but what does it take to create a secure work environment? Three things: frequent cleaning, proper knowledge of cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and adequate testing and validation.

While no one can 100% eliminate viral and bacterial threats, FSG can minimize them. Here’s how.

Frequent Cleaning

Cleaning and disinfection go hand in hand. Because viruses and bacteria grow in dirty environments, touch points can’t be effectively disinfected or sanitized without proper cleaning first. FSG cleans floors and surfaces first to ensure, once applied, the disinfectant chemistry will work properly.

Proper Knowledge of Cleaning and Disinfecting Procedures

Disinfection is a science, and with so much emphasis being placed on following proper safety and cleanliness guidelines, the need for professional service providers is more important than ever. Certified custodial technicians are growing increasingly valuable, and even for companies that don’t outsource cleaning, subject matter experts will be needed to field and troubleshoot any questions or issues that arise around disinfection procedures and regulatory compliance.

Established, experienced disinfection and cleaning service providers:

  • Offer ongoing training for technicians
  • Place emphasis on continuing education
  • Understand recommended best practices
  • Adhere to mandated guidelines
  • Utilize the most effective products and equipment

Adequate Testing and Validation

With many cleaning and disinfection services being performed during off peak hours, how can facility managers be certain their spaces were cleaned and disinfected adequately? FSG offers all of our maintenance, disinfection, and sanitization program customers validation on the services that we perform at their facilities.We can provide documentation showing what equipment and cleaning procedures were used. Additionally, using spot swab technology, we’re able to show that our disinfectant chemistry has enveloped objects and coated all surfaces. The validation received from FSG supports an organization’s efforts to safeguard employees and customers in their workplace and to maintain a clean, hygienic space.

Reopening Offices: FSG Can Help You Welcome Back Customers & Staff

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2020 showed us that it’s no longer “business as usual” by shining a spotlight on the importance of proper disinfection and sanitization procedures. Health and safety are top priorities as offices throughout the country begin to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, these new guidelines can be difficult to understand and implement if unfamiliar with the chemistry, equipment, and processes necessary to safeguard staff and customers from harmful viruses, bacteria, mold, and allergens. At FSG, several clients have requested our disinfection and sanitization services to help ready their facilities for reopen. 

This video is from a recent disinfection and sanitization project for one of our customers in Wilmington, DE as they prepared their space for welcoming back staff and customers. While making the customer’s work environment as safe and healthy as possible, we also take every precaution to protect our team while they’re on the job. If you’ve recently resumed daily operations, or are planning to reopen soon, here’s how we can help.

  • Some disinfection programs focus only on communal touch points in the workplace, such as switches, knobs, handles, etc., but FSG combines wipe down procedures with electrostatic and atomizing technology, wrapping around and covering all surfaces in a space. 
  • Along with being an EPA Registered Hospital Grade disinfectant, our chemistry is also on the EPA’s List N for Approved Use Against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
  • We also offer sanitization services for soft surfaces, such as fabrics, carpet, and upholstery, using chemistry that has received the Seal of Approval from the Carpet & Rug Institute.
  • To properly sanitize carpets and disinfectant hard floors they must first be clean, and FSG offers cleaning services for all types of commercial flooring and surfaces.
  • We offer ongoing disinfection/sanitization maintenance programs that can be performed as often as needed to safeguard your staff and customers.

Contact us today at 302-691-3970 or via email at fsgservices@fsgmaintenance.com to learn more about how we can help you meet the newly implemented safety guidelines and successfully reopen your facility with a clean, healthy space for everyone!

As always, consider these guidelines from state governments in our region.

NCCCC Members in Action – Facility Services Group Share

Chamber Member organizations across the state are answering the call to support the coronavirus (COVID-19) response effort.

Facility Services Group specializes in commercial interior maintenance. Much of their work is floor maintenance, and disinfecting spaces. FSG began disinfecting back in 2014 to protect employees when entering spaces. As the recent crisis began to set in, they immediately started to focus on their disinfecting services for not only their staff, but also for their customers.

Sheri Gorman’s from the FSG Business Development office and was asked if they could provide services for Hilltop Lutheran Neighborhood Center in Wilmington. Hilltop needed their offices disinfected and to begin preparation for re-opening their doors. FSG wants to give back to our local community and want members to feel safe and comfortable.

For more information on FSG, please contact Sheri Gorman, at sherig@fsgmaintenance.com or visit their website www.fsgmaintenance.com.

Article originally posted on the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce website.

What You Need to Know About Sanitizing Carpet

YES – it is true, what goes up must come down. However, that does not mean fogging your space will sanitize your carpet or other soft surfaces! Why? Dirt, soil, and anything foreign to the carpet or fabric can act as a food source for bacteria and will work itself down into the backing and between the fibers. The fogging chemistry will only sit on the surface and will not do anything below.

Incorrect carpet sanitizing method

For best sanitization results, it’s important for carpet (a porous surface) or fabric to be cleaned effectively prior to the application of any disinfectant. Removing the foreign matter first through proper hot water extraction allows the disinfectant chemistry to focus exclusively on weakening any viral threat that may exist. Proper cleaning also removes barriers such as oily substances that may block or inhibit the actions of the disinfectant in sanitizing the surface of a fiber.

Proper Carpet Cleaning Procedures

  1.  Vacuum the entire space
  2. Deep clean using hot water extraction methods
  3. Application of an EPA Registered Disinfectant (look for chemistry that is also CRI SOA approved) that provides soft surface sanitization instructions. Make sure it is pH neutral!

Once the sanitization processes have been completed, a routine maintenance cleaning program should be put in place to maintain the healthy condition of the carpet or upholstery. The sanitization process can then be a periodic service and does not need to be repeated with every cleaning.

For more information please feel free to reach out to us.

Chip Grimes – cgrimes@fsgmaintenance.com | 302-691-3970