Facility Managers Can Consider Cleaning, Other Measures Against Swine Flu
Posted 5/4/2009
Some organizations concerned about the risk of swine flu have stepped up the cleaning regimens in their facilities, says Wayne P. Saya, director of technical operations, UGL Unicco & Unicco Government Services. For organizations that wish to go beyond those measures, other options also exist.
One basic step is to put up signs to encourage handwashing – a too easily overlooked personal hygiene measure that is the among the top recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control for controlling the spread of influenza. To make that easier for building occupants, facilities can set up stations with hand sanitizers, says Saya.
The same basic idea can be applied to the facility itself. Some facilities are having high traffic areas like elevators or airport restrooms cleaned more often, says Saya. The same approach is being applied to shared areas like meeting rooms and to phones and desktops. Facilities are also disinfecting surfaces that many building occupants are likely to touch, such as doors, table tops, manual restroom fixtures or conference room chairs.
Saya says that his company has not run into shortages of cleaning supplies. “We have national agreements with a variety of companies,” he says.
For organizations that want to go beyond changes in cleaning regimen, one option is to upgrade filters. Saya says that MERV 15 filters would be effective at trapping airborne influenza viruses. Custom filters can be made to the right size and MERV level, he says.
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