How Clean is Your Daycare Facility?

Written by Guest Blogger, Betty White

A clean and safe environment is a must for any child care facility. Not only parents and guardians but also teachers and other staff in your facility now have much higher standards in terms of how clean your daycare facility should be. Therefore, abiding by the highest cleanliness standards is necessary to ensure the safety of everyone on your premises.

The need for such strict practices for cleaning is evident. So much so that federal health officials have recommended guidelines on cleaning and disinfecting different facilities to prevent the spread of Covid-19. These guidelines encompass the appropriate cleaning supplies (liquids and chemicals) and protocols to contain potential threats.

New Cleaning and Disinfecting Standards

There’s no denying that all facilities must maintain higher cleaning and disinfecting standards. In general, viruses spread through coughing and sneezing, touching objects and surfaces with contaminated hands, or touching your face after being in contact with contaminated surfaces and objects. Therefore, disinfection of all high-touch surfaces is necessary. Also, daycare facility managers have to ensure that this is done at least once during the day.

What to Focus On When You Clean Your Daycare Facility

It’s necessary to pay special attention to items and surfaces children and parents often touch. Therefore, areas that require repeated cleaning are:

• Doors and handles
• Handrails
• Light switches and elevator buttons
• Faucets, soap dispensers, and paper towel dispensers
• Toilets
• Floors, etc.

Which Cleaning Supplies Should a Daycare Facility Use?

Traditional cleaning supplies such as bleach, for instance, are often toxic to humans and may cause asthma. In addition, they’re also corrosive and harmful to the environment. Finally, diluted bleach is only effective for a few hours. Therefore, such chemicals should be avoided.

Moreover, most facilities use mops and buckets. However, these clean only about a quarter of a surface well. When we also consider inconsistencies in cleaning, human errors, and general lack of time, it’s challenging to keep your daycare facility clean and up to the standards.

All of that becomes a lot more problematic when we have faced a pandemic. Therefore, daycare facilities should consult the EPA’s List of Disinfectants suitable for Covid-19 prevention.

Cleaning Specific Types of Surfaces

Specific surfaces have to be approached with particular care. These are soft surfaces, such as sofas, beds, rugs, curtains, etc. Those in charge of cleaning should use detergent or soap-based products or other solutions appropriate for such surfaces. They should also launder them as per usual. Regular vacuuming is also necessary.

Also, if there are many toys in your facility, keep in mind that you have to wash them more frequently or limit the use of toys.

Finally, should you decide that your facility needs thorough disinfection or sanitizing, you may want to remove items that could get in the way. Moreover, eliminating non-essential items until things get back to normal may also be advisable to streamline the cleaning procedures. Therefore, renting a commercial storage unit is the best solution. You can pack everything you want out temporarily and store it during the process of cleaning or until you can safely put it back.

In-House Cleaning Vs. Professional Cleaners

First of all, the need for a daycare facility to have a proper cleaning system is undeniable. These facilities take a considerable amount of time to keep clean. In addition to standard cleaning tasks that take place throughout the day, there’s also a lot of disinfecting and deep cleaning that happens regularly, especially today. So, you cannot afford not to have an in-house cleaning or hire professional cleaners. Both options have a set of benefits.

In-House Cleaning 

In-house cleaning means that facility has its own staff in charge of maintaining the premises. This type of cleaning system allows for more flexibility, which is why it’s an excellent solution for daycare centers, schools and colleges. There’s also the issue of security. Having employees perform cleaning duties is a safe option because you always know who’s cleaning the facility. If you outsource this, you have less control over who cleans your premises.

Moreover, in-house cleaners are familiar with the building its particular needs. Of course, outsourced cleaners will get to know this too, but it’ll require some time.

Another one of the benefits of in-house cleaning workers is that they are a part of your team. As such, they will always receive the necessary training related to safety concerns, equipment, chemicals used, etc., along with the other staff to ensure everything is according to standards.

Professional Cleaners

The primary advantage of hiring professional cleaners over in-house cleaning is the cost-effectiveness of this solution. In-house cleaning implies that your facility pays for the workers’ compensation, employment taxes, employee benefits, and other related expenses, same as for other staff members. However, if you outsource these services, the company providing them will cover everything. In addition, all the necessary equipment and cleaning solutions are the responsibility of the company providing the service, not your facility.

Furthermore, when it comes to training and supervision, with an in-house cleaning solution, it is your responsibility. On the other hand, cleaning companies have standardized training programs, so the employees know how to use the equipment and chemicals as well as the best cleaning practices and the latest guidelines.

Is Your Daycare Facility Clean? 

There are many reasons to keep your daycare facility clean and have the right people to ensure that. Firstly, if the space is not regularly and thoroughly cleaned, it will pose a health hazard to your students, as well as their parents and guardians. Today, it is all the more critical to maintain high hygienic standards in your daycare to make sure everyone is safe. Secondly, it’s crucial to understand that your caregivers are not professional cleaners. While you can encourage them to keep their workplace tidy, you cannot expect them to be responsible for the overall hygiene of the facility. Therefore, you have to hire trained and experienced people who will handle the cleaning.

 

Ultimately, if you want to understand how clean your daycare facility is and if it is up to the standards expected from you in this day and age, you have to make sure that you:

• Follow all the safety guidelines issued by federal health officials
• Use adequate cleaning supplies
• Focus on high-touch surfaces and deep clean regularly
• Improve ventilation
• Hire trained and experienced people in charge of cleaning

 

 

If you are interested in learning more about customized commercial cleaning and disinfecting programs for your daycare facility, contact System4 Facility Services Management today!