Enhanced Covid-19 cleaning company guidelinesThese covid-19 cleaning company guidelines for companies are designed to help reduce the risk of spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from contact with contaminated surfaces.
We recommend sites adopt enhanced cleaning processes. It is recognised that our housekeeping procedures, whether provided by our colleagues or a vendor, may not be thorough enough to adequately reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.
The areas highlighted above should be cleaned at least daily by any covid-19 cleaning company. if possible, these areas should be cleaned between shifts. Businesses should use a commercial disinfecting wipe, detergent and water. ideally, you should use commercial anti-microbial products. The general cleaning guideline is that the more people who have contact with these surfaces, the more frequently that surface should be cleaned.
Covid-19 cleaning of non-office areas including production areas, including shipping, receiving and labsMany of our facilities have specific cleaning requirements for production areas, shipping and receiving areas, laboratories, and other non-office areas as dictated by quality systems, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), or other requirements. These procedures should be maintained. In many cases, these procedures will include disinfection that will reduce the risk posed by viruses such as COVID-19 or other pathogens.
That said, existing procedures may not include disinfection, or may not include disinfection in all areas. In these cases, to the extent that these enhanced cleaning guidelines can be implemented without compromising quality or other production requirements, they should be considered.
Recognizing that cleaning services may not frequent our production areas, site leaders are encouraged to work with operators to implement enhanced cleaning procedures in production, shipping and receiving, laboratories, etc., particularly with respect to frequently touched surfaces.
Personal protective equipment recommendations:
Disinfectants
For general precautionary cleaning, detergent and water are adequate. Many general household products contain the appropriate concentrations of active ingredients (AIs) for disinfection of areas that are very likely to be contaminated with COVID-19 virus (i.e., bedroom of a person confirmed to have COVID-19).
The AIs and their effective concentrations listed below in Table 1 have been shown to be effective against known coronaviruses. In addition to the use of cleaning agents, other treatments effective against known coronaviruses include steam and heat treatment. As the COVID-19 virus is new, no study has been published on the virus. This assessment is thus based on published scientific studies on coronaviruses, a group to which the COVID-19 virus belongs.
Guidelines for disinfection for known or suspected cases of COVID-19These following guidelines are designed for the disinfection of areas that have been frequented by an individual with a known or suspected case of COVID-19. These guidelines are separate from the enhanced routine cleaning guidelines outlined above and will not be used by sites unless they have a known or suspected case of COVID-19.
As part of our site preparedness efforts, all site leaders must immediately contact their cleaning services provider to confirm whether they have the capability to clean according to these guidelines. Confirming this information now will help you ensure that proper disinfection can begin as soon as possible should your site experience suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
Many Thermo Fisher colleagues serve on the housekeeping staff at our sites. Sites are strongly discouraged from asking our colleagues who serve on the cleaning staff to disinfect areas after a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19. If your housekeeping staff includes Thermo Fisher employees, site leaders must contact external vendors and locate a company that can perform cleaning according to these guidelines as part of our preparedness efforts. Once a vendor is located, efforts must be made to secure their services in the event they are needed (i.e., execute contract and service agreements ahead of time).
Site leaders who have difficulty identifying or securing vendors that can perform disinfection, or who feel the best option is to have their employee cleaning staff perform the disinfection, must contact local environmental, health and safety resources and corporate Risk Management for further guidance.
In the absence of specific guidance from the World Health Organization and United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other national healthcare agencies, all locations should be prepared to follow the European Union guidance contained in the Interim guidance for environmental cleaning in non-healthcare facilities exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (February 18, 2020) until further notice. We will continue to monitor for new guidelines with respect to COVID-19 and update this guidance as necessary.
The survival time for COVID-19 is not known for certain, so it is best to assume that the virus can survive on surfaces of different materials for at least 2 to 3 days, and possibly longer. Where there is reason to suspect that surfaces may have been contaminated with COVID-19, the surfaces should be sanitized. If the potentially contaminated surface is covered with a textile, it may be necessary to launder the material at the warmest temperatures recommended for the material with a laundry detergent and bleach.
Disinfectants should be prepared and applied in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. Ensure that appropriate contact time is given before rinsing or removing the disinfectant. Please see the Disinfectants section below or refer to the European guidance referenced below for recommendations on disinfectants that can be used.
Disinfection of production, shipping and receiving, laboratories and other non-office locations should be done in consultation with QA/QC staff, operations and others as appropriate to ensure selected disinfectants and proposed methods are acceptable from a quality and production perspective.
Important points to note when using disinfectants:References:
Singapore National Environment Agency, Interim List of Household Products and Active Ingredients for Disinfection of the COVID-19 Virus" (2/23/20)
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Interim Guidance for environmental cleaning in non-healthcare facilities exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (2/18/20).
For disinfection of highly contaminated surfaces or material, avoid the use of spray, and allow appropriate contact time needed for disinfection prior to rinsing or removing the product from the treated surface (refer to product instruction).
References:
Singapore National Environment Agency, Interim List of Household Products and Active Ingredients for Disinfection of the COVID-19 Virus" (2/23/20)
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Interim Guidance for environmental cleaning in non-healthcare facilities exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (2/18/20).
Many general household products contain the appropriate concentrations of active ingredients for disinfection of areas that are likely to be contaminated with COVID-19.
The active ingredients and their effective concentrations listed in Table 2 below have been shown to be effective against known coronaviruses. In addition to the use of cleaning agents, other treatments effective against known coronaviruses include steam and heat treatment.
For more information on coronavirus infection control cleaning see our main page.
Let us look after the outside as well as the inside so that you have one supplier with all the expertise.
