Dear Members,

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its guidelines related to cleaning and disinfecting against COVID-19. As your advocate and business resource, BSCAI has been reporting, monitoring and working with the Cleaning Coalition of America to help ensure that the CDC guidance is clearly and properly understood by your customers.  

BSCAI first reported the revised guidance in our SmartBrief newsletter on April 8^th and dedicated the majority of our Virtual Town Hall that day to this topic.  To help clarify the issue further, we are pleased to provide some additional resources to help facilitate your communications with your customers and teams.  BSCAI has been working closely with the Cleaning Coalition of America, of which BSCAI is a founding member, in order to provide this information to our members.

First, below are some key messages and considerations about cleaning and disinfecting to keep in mind – especially as traditional “return to work” plans progress - in conversations with customers and property/facility managers. 

Considerations for Cleaning and Disinfecting Shared Spaces

Listed below are four things you should know as you consider opening buildings and bringing larger groups of people together in shared spaces:

1. Any maintenance program should include both traditional “cleaning” and disinfecting. Wiping surfaces with microfiber cloth and cleaning solution is essential to removing pathogens. Best in class cleaning programs use EPA-registered disinfectants like electrolyzed water, hypochlorous acid, ozonated water products with pathogen kill capabilities, and peroxide-based cleaners that kill pathogens instead of simply removing them and possibly transferring them to other surfaces. 
2. Disinfecting techniques such as electrostatic spraying and UV light are effective at killing pathogens. However, these techniques should be used as supplemental cleaning by trained professional cleaners when other people are not present. Without the proper training and protective equipment, these techniques can be dangerous. CCA and BSCAI member companies are experienced in using these techniques and understand when, where and how to use them.
3. The best cleaning programs are not just about products used, but also cleaning procedures. All spaces should have clear cleaning protocols, including routine cleaning and disinfection of high touch surfaces with disinfectant cleaner one time per day with increasing frequency of high touch points based on traffic and occupancy, competency validation for janitorial staff, and policies for decontamination of spills of blood or other potentially infectious bodily fluids.
4. Highly effective cleaning programs are reevaluated over time. Initial facility assessments should identify high touch point areas and the most appropriate areas for hand sanitizing stations and signage locations. Cleaning procedures should then be periodically monitored and assessed using visual inspections, fluorescent markers, and evidence-based testing to ensure that they are consistently and correctly performed.

Courtesy of the Cleaning Coalition of America, April 2021

In addition, BSCAI and CCA are pleased to present a series of social-media friendly graphics you can customize with your company information and post to your corporate social media channels. Once again, these are co-branded with CCA and BSCAI affiliation, thereby providing further credibility.

Questions or concerns? Contact us by sending an e-mail to info@bscai.org.