Best Cleaning Practices for Medical Facilities

Cleaning practices for medical facilities – the benchmark of cleaning practices, no? During a pandemic, we’d like to think so. Whether your facility is a clinic, hospital, biology lab, or other such facility, there are some universal cleaning practices that it’s a good idea to align to. When it concerns universal cleaning practices, there’s no better source than the CDC – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC has a cleaning and disinfecting guide for just about every type of facility, including medical facilities (of course). Before we discuss the details of two of them, here they are for you to take a further look at:

1. Best Practices for Environmental Cleaning of Healthcare Facilities
2. Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility (updated January 5, 2021)

Obviously, the CDC has been very busy since the start of the pandemic. Since then, their guidelines, regulations, and recommendations have been very dynamic, adjusting to the constantly changing environment and public psyche. Let’s take a look at some of the important points within each guideline:

Schedule & Plan

A good set of cleaning practices starts and ends with a cleaning plan and schedule. The CDC touches on certain key technical requirements, including the frequency of cleaning, the method, or products and processes used for cleaning, and the assignment of specific cleaning tasks to specific staff members. 

Chains of Transmission – Breaking the “Pathway”

The role of environmental cleaning and hand hygiene in breaking the pathway of transmission of germs, bacteria, and viruses is not as simple as wiping a surface or washing your hands. The way to navigate this path goes as follows:

Any individual who’s worked with or exposed to infectious substances or materials must, wearing latex or nitrile gloves, decontaminate and disinfect all environmental surfaces they’ve used or been around, then remove the gloves and wash their hands thoroughly with (preferably) hot water and antibacterial soap. This effectively breaks the transmission pathway.

Soap & Water First, Always

Disinfecting is good, but it’s not enough. The CDC recommends cleaning surfaces with soap and water first, then following up with the disinfecting, whether with a spray solution or a disinfecting wipe. Between the two steps, most (“99.9%” to be approximate) germs, bacteria, and viruses will be eliminated. It’s better to spend the extra time and effort to be safe rather than sorry, especially in the middle of a pandemic. 

Identify Your “High Touch” Surfaces

Good cleaning practices are like going to war in that you won’t win or have a chance if you don’t know what you’re up against, so identify your high touch surfaces. To get you started, the CDC includes in this list table tops, door knobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks, and more.

The key to the best cleaning practices for all medical facilities is to first review all of your existing practices, revise and add new, more relevant practices as needed, and then to apply them with discipline and make it a habit!