Returning to the workplace:

How clean is clean?

As many companies return their associates to the workplace, a renewed focus on workplace cleanliness is taking place. We all know the common standard: cleaning crews pushing carts with chemicals and rags, entering offices and common spaces, wiping down surfaces, and departing for the next space on the cleaning list. The cleaning crews are likely using chemicals listed on the EPA-List N, so you’re covered…. you’re safe.

But are you really? Think about it, men and women make up the cleaning crew. These people are doing an important job to be sure, yet they’re subject to gaps in the process—specifically Human Intent and Human Error.

Human Intent: Did you ever ask yourself, “What is the cleaning crew assigned to do?” Perhaps you should have. Quite simply, most cleaning crews are charged with cleaning hard surfaces that they assume workers have touched such as desktops, tabletops, computer keyboards, and doorknobs. What about the other surfaces like door frames, pictures, chair backs, décor, coasters, white boards, markers, vertical surfaces, and items made of cloth? These are all places subject sneezing, breathing, coughing, and touching, and none of them are cleaned routinely if at all….yet ALL of these surfaces can harbor germs or pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and mold.

Human Error: Now ask yourself, “For the small portion of surfaces in the office that the crews are directed to clean, how well do they do their jobs?” Another great question. Most cleaning crews apply proper diligence to the task, but they’re only human and subject to human error. Specifically: Are they employing the appropriate types and quantities of chemicals…..did they miss or skip some surfaces….were they called out of an office space early—not to return….were they redirected to other work causing them to miss an entire space?

UVC: When we take both human intent and human error into account, it becomes clear that only a very small portion of the surfaces in offices and common spaces are actually cleaned…..this is despite the lingering scent of sometimes toxic-chemicals that are left behind. “So, how clean is clean?” Good question. An even better question is, “How do we improve our cleaning efforts to protect our coworkers as we return to the workplace?” The answer is: Ultraviolet Light—specifically the C-band, otherwise known as UVC.

How UVC works: UVC works through Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI). UVGI uses the short-wavelength UVC light to kill or inactivate microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids--disrupting the RNA/DNA and leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions.

UVSheltron Inc.: UVSheltron located in Pontiac, MI designs and manufactures devices that emit ultraviolet light (UVC) to disinfect objects & spaces of hundreds of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, and mold….in only minutes with 99.99% effectiveness. In the pandemic environment, these products have proven attractive to many customers, marketers, and distributors around the globe—especially organizations trying to reopen and return to normal operations. In addition, we have a customer base in other markets utilizing UVC to combat food borne illness, support mold abatement, and battle seasonal diseases as well as future (unknown) pathogens.

Devices: UVSheltron makes towers for space disinfection of rooms as large as 9,000 square feet, several cabinets for object disinfection accommodating sizes as large as wheelchairs or as small as desktop PDAs, and handhelds for targeted disinfection in hard-to-reach places. The bottom line is that UVSheltron’s UVC devices are machines and not subject to the limits of human intent and error. Whatever the UVC light hits…..it disinfects, killing pathogens in a couple of minutes and without the use of added toxic chemicals. When used in concert with a normal cleaning crews, UVC disinfects places that humans can’t (or won’t) reach and enhances workplace cleanliness dramatically.

So, as you return to the workplace, ask yourself, “What is being done beyond the normal procedures to protect me and my fellow coworkers?”
How clean is clean?

www.linkedin.com/company/uvsheltron/