- Articles Press Social Responsiblity
- 16.02.2021
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Taking Charge of Germs
Consider how many common objects you touch in a given day – door handles, key pads at check-out, faucets, shopping carts, railings – the list goes on.
Now imagine the amount of unclean hands touching those same surfaces. Even if you routinely wash your hands, you can’t avoid the harmful bacteria and viruses accumulating on common objects. These germs continue to grow and start the dominoes falling as one by one they spread to each new hand that touches them.
Fighting the Spread of Germs…
Thoroughly cleaning common surfaces with safe disinfectants helps stop germs from spreading. But can a spray cleaner and rag handle such a big job? For a complete assault on germs, consider an electrostatic sprayer. This easy-to-use tool covers more surfaces faster than traditional spray bottles. Plus, it uses less chemicals while providing full coverage of objects.
…at the office
The influenza virus can live up to 24 hours, so diligent hand washing is imperative. If you touch an infected surface and then touch your mouth, eyes or nose, the likelihood of getting sick increases exponentially.
Studies have found that the work place can be a breeding ground for germs. Your desk could be ground zero, starting with your keyboard and phone. Contaminated common areas include, but are certainly not limited to, elevator buttons, staircase railings and door handles. An electrostatic sprayer can quickly and safely disinfect your personal space and high traffic areas to destroy harmful organisms.
…at the gym
Signs posted at the gym remind guests to wipe down equipment after each use. It’s common courtesy to wipe sweat off of a machine, but is that enough to reduce the spread of infections?
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that often causes skin infections. MRSA can be passed to another person through body contact with an infected wound, by sharing personal items like a towel or using exercise equipment that has touched the infected skin. To reduce the risk of spreading MRSA and other infections, gym equipment, locker rooms and saunas should all be sanitized with an electrostatic sprayer.
…in the schools
A petri dish is defined as a container used for culturing bacteria and other microorganisms. That sounds a lot like day care centers and schools. The continuous parade of unwashed hands and shared surfaces provide the ideal environment for spreading germs and infections.
Using a handheld electrostatic sprayer can efficiently clean these surfaces thoroughly by targeting entire objects. And there’s no need to touch surfaces by hand. Plus, sanitizing the contents of a room with an electrostatic sprayer improves air quality and eliminates odors, without the strong smell of bleach that results from many spray bottle cleaning solutions.
…in many locations
The technology behind the electrostatic sprayers allows the system to work with different chemicals like biocides and disinfectants for veterinary clinics, hospitals, food processing plants and much more. The sprayers can also be used to apply insecticides or fumigants from warehouses to barns.
It’s important to adopt a cleaning protocol that helps stop infections from spreading. Traditional spray cleaning bottles do not provide complete surface coverage. Paper towels generate a lot of waste, while repeatedly using the same cloth could become ineffective. To cover more surfaces faster, with less chemicals, clean with confidence and clean with an electrostatic sprayer.
Photo by Jonathan Wilson
The seven simple words were the ultimate in praise for a woman hardwired to change lives: “You made a difference in the world.”
They were directed at Lynne Cutler, founder and president of Women’s Opportunities Resource Center, better known as WORC. Speaking was John Fleming, acting district director of the Small Business Administration, who was in Philadelphia earlier this month to declare Cutler the SBA’s Eastern Pennsylvania Small Business Champion.
There were several standing among the 200-plus audience members whose lives were touched by Cutler, including Rosliana and Mitchell Zigmund, Roz Brait, Gerry Fioriglio, and Cassandra Hayes, to name a few.
They are bakers, an operator of a home-care company, and the founder of a business specializing in customized promotional products, just some of the recipients of microloans, entrepreneurial training, and other support that WORC has provided to thousands in Philadelphia, its suburbs and northern Delaware – primarily, but not exclusively, women – since Cutler launched the nonprofit 25 years ago.
Over the years, the organization has issued 783 microloans – averaging about $7,500 and totaling $3.8 million – to help businesses start or expand. About 3,700 people have enrolled in its business-training classes. Under the Family Savings Program, WORC estimates nearly 1,600 families put away $3.4 million, which was matched by an equal amount. Combined with outside resources such as mortgages and education grants, the total economic impact was $52 million, Cutler said.
WORC was one of the first microenterprise programs in the nation that focused on entrepreneurship and asset-building to help lower-income people and families achieve economic self-sufficiency. Cutler suggests creating it was her destiny.
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Does your cleaning contractor know the difference between cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing? Do you?
These terms are often thrown around and misused, but in reality, they each have specific definitions and reasons they are used. Cleaning is not the same as sanitizing and sanitizing is not the same as disinfecting. When you clean, you simply remove foreign material from high-touch objects and surfaces by using water and enzymes and some elbow grease. You need to clean, however, before you disinfect or sanitize, so it is a very important step.
When you disinfect, you kill germs. You don’t necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but by killing the germs, you help to remove the risk of spreading infection. This is especially important in healthcare facilities. Sanitizing uses either heat, radiation or chemicals, and is mostly used in foodservice facilities. Again, the area needs to be completely cleaned in order for sanitizing to be effective, as sanitizing and disinfecting are a step above regular cleaning. Cleaning simply removes dirt, while the other methods remove potentially harmful bacteria that may not be visible. All are important in the areas and the buildings that they are used in, in the right order. Does your cleaning contractor keep your facility cleaned, sanitized and/or disinfected according to your specific needs?
It’s an unfortunate fact that in recent years, superbugs have become a concern and a threat to all of us. They are things we need to be aware of and pay attention to so that we can do the best we can to prevent them from spreading and doing more damage.
The latest superbug that is relevant to our area is C. auris, which the CDC just added to their list of “urgent threats”. This fungus has been quietly spreading across the world, but was most recently found in New York, New Jersey and Illinois, as well as solitary cases in other states. Nearly 600 cases have been confirmed across the US. This fungus preys on those with weakened immune systems, and in the last five years has taken a hold in a neonatal unit in Venezuela, a hospital in Spain, a British medical center, and has also shown up in India, Pakistan and South Africa. It is estimated that almost half of those infected die within 90 days.
Unfortunately, as things like fungus and bacterias become immune to medications, the focus needs to shift to facility cleanliness, personal hygiene, infection control and a cross-contamination efforts. It becomes imperative for organizations to alter the way that they clean so that nothing is able to remain there and multiply. Some fungus and bacteria can live on surfaces for weeks if the area is not properly cleaned and sanitized.
How does one go about sanitizing and ridding their facility of a potential superbug? The answer is that it requires specific products and processes. Even cleaning professional know that eradicating superbugs is no easy task. Cleaning and sanitizing methods that can spray and disinfect on both hard or soft surfaces, and reach into even the tightest spots will go a long way in assuring that bacteria and fungus cannot survive and wreak more havoc. Prevention and awareness are the best tools to use to help keep things like superbugs from spreading. If you have specific concerns, be sure to speak to your corporate cleaning partner about the ways that are available to keep your facility as clean and protected as possible.
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