Can certain efforts in “Going Green” actually have a negative effect on your health and safety? Being environmentally friendly is an important issue that is reshaping the way many people and businesses think and operate in their daily lives. It’s great to hear the new and innovative ways that people are recycling and reusing products, lowering energy needs and reducing their environmental footprint. Unfortunately, some have pushed for more eco-friendly methods at the sacrifice of public health and safety.
One local company, Brokate Janitorial, is trying to raise caution to those focusing too heavily on going green, at the expense of proper infection control. Brokate Janitorial is a janitorial service provider in Southwest Missouri with a focus on cleaning for health.
“When it comes to the health and well being of patients in hospitals, children in schools, employees at their place of occupation and customers patronizing businesses; creating an environment of health and safety is of the utmost importance. We use green cleaning agents and procedures when it makes sense, but our number one goal is to create a healthy environment for the facilities we service.” said Cheyne Brokate, Vice President of Operations at Brokate Janitorial.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has identified areas deemed, “high-touch surfaces” that warrant extra attention to control the spread of infections in hospitals. For patient areas, these areas include; bed rails, tray tables, call boxes, telephones, bedside tables, patient chairs and IV poles. In restrooms, these areas include; sinks, light switches, door knobs and levers, bathroom handrails, toilet seats, toilet handles and bed pan cleaning equipment. Knowing and understanding how to reduce infections from spreading on these surfaces is an important step going forward for all facilities.
All over the country various cities, schools and businesses are working to fight or prevent infections from spreading. In Indiana there is a pneumonia outbreak in Shelby County schools, a whooping cough outbreak in Chicago and St. Louis has an outbreak of E. Coli that has infected 31 people so far. It is often very difficult to trace the source of how the infection is spreading, which makes preventative measures all the more important.
“You never know what the next health scare is going to be, so it is vital to identify key areas where viruses and bacteria have the opportunity to cultivate and spread and eliminate them. Unfortunately, this often means using disinfectants that are not considered green.” said Cheyne.
The other crucial side of prevention is proper hand washing procedures. A University of Colorado study was conducted with 430 students living in 4 dormitories to study the effectiveness of hand-hygiene in regards to infection control. The group setup hand washing stations in every room, bathroom and dining hall for one group and measured the results. They discovered the group with the hand washing stations to have a 20% improvement in illness rate and 43% less missed school/work days.
This study illustrates how effective and important it is for people to regularly wash their hands to prevent contracting and spreading various harmful bacteria and viruses. With the outbreak of H1N1, aka “the swine flu” in 2009, hand sanitizers became one of the hottest items to add to your purse, glove box and desk. Unfortunately, the FDA has recently reported that no over the counter products have been approved effective against MRSA, E. coli, Salmonella, or H1N1. While still helpful, these sanitizers still take a back seat to the tried and true method of washing hands regularly for 15-20 seconds at a time with warm water.
While marketers will continue to blast consumers with the latest and greatest green products and other must haves like portable hand sanitizers, be sure to do a little research to see how effective they actually are. Recycling and being green are incredibly important for each and every one of us to consider and practice, so long as your health isn’t sacrificed.
Be sure your Cleaning Program takes “Cleaning for Health” into consideration to reduce the chances your facility ends up on the news like this school did:
