fact-based management Down The dirty dozen harmful hot spots for contamination in and around commercial facilities. Hands By: Vince Elliott A A number of studies have drawn a clear relationship between cleanliness and occu-pant health, absenteeism and productivity. Much of the findings point to “touch points,” those things touched by your hands. The primary spread of contamination is by hand contact with building surfaces. I guess it goes without saying that our rest-rooms are a natural top priority when think-ing about controlling the spread of germs. We use special care, special cloths, sepa-rate water, mops and often different equip-ment. We have a sharp focus on any restroom fixture or surface we might touch. But, are we really controlling the spread of germs because of our myopic attention to restroom cleaning? Well, I think not. The issue is not simply about sanitized restroom fixtures and surfaces; what about all the other building items and surfaces that we touch? Indeed, there are the “dirty dozen” areas that represent the highest levels of touch point contamination. 1. Restrooms Restrooms are a big source of nasty germs, bacteria and more — no surprise. And, it’s the reason why so much atten-tion has been directed to the cleaning of these spaces. 2. Dining rooms Where we find food, we find a natural breading ground for germs of all kinds. Outbreaks of Salmonella , Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and other digestive risks are always present. Sanitizing tables, chairs and other touch points is often an unrecognized priority in dinning areas. 3. Break rooms Like dining rooms, break rooms are a great breading area for bacterial growth. There are food residue levels, even on “cleaned” tables, a natural platform for con-tamination. 4. Copy areas Think about all the surfaces we touch when making copies. And, think about the number of other people who have also come in contact with those surfaces. 5. Conference rooms Meetings, meetings, meetings — all at the same table, using the same chairs, light switches and doors. We touch all these surfaces, and they become a reservoir for the growth of con-taminants that can affect everyone. 6. Water coolers As we stand around this community com-munications devise, we touch everything: The wall, the cooler handle, the bottle and each other. Yes, touching is the way to spread bacte-ria, and the water cooler is an unsuspecting hot spot. 7. ATM Like the water cooler, we touch a lot of surfaces on and around the ATM machine. 8. Lobby and reception areas Perhaps the first thing we touch when entering a building is the door, and it seems like some other folks had the same idea. Then, we may walk up to the security/ reception desk and touch the counter, the sign-in pen and, perhaps, the phone. 9. Elevators There’s not much to touch on an elevator, just two buttons. And, everyone will touch those buttons, unless we can get someone to do it for us. 10. Escalators Lucky us, there’s only one surface to touch. Like everyone else, though, we hold onto the moving hand rail. If we’re lucky, we’ll miss the exact spot that all those other folks touched — or, maybe not. 11. Doors and light switches Any room with a door and light switch is a potential contamination surface. 12. Stair railings Stair railings are a contamination issue, even in our buildings. The answer to reducing the contamina-tion risk from the dirty dozen areas lies in the way we police and spot clean our buildings. Night shift, day shift and the policing staff can focus on reducing contamination levels by ongoing sanitizing in these areas. CM Vincent F. Elliott is the founder, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Elliott Affiliates Ltd. of Hunt Valley, Maryland. For more information, visit www.EALtd.com. He is widely recognized as the leading authority in the design and utilization of best practice, performance-driven techniques for jani-torial outsourcing and ongoing management. Elliott is also the founder of the Chemical Free Cleaning Network (CFCN). More information about that ini-tiative can be found at www.CFCN.info. 44 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • January 2012
CMM – Archives Jan 2012: 44
