1. Upgrade and Re-Stock Essential Cleaning Supplies and Equipment

Evaluate your cleaning supply needs and determine which products and solutions you need to re-stock or need to be upgraded or replaced. From brands you trust and know, browse our curation of cleaning essentials today.

Cleaning tools and equipment are responsible for the proper application of cleaning and disinfecting products and procedures. An easy way to identify if your cleaning equipment needs to be replaced or upgraded is to evaluate if it can still be used in the way the manufacturer intended². 

Damaged tools and equipment can result in workplace injuries. In fact, cleaning staff and their employers reported over 18,000 workplace injuries that were likely due to faulty tools and equipment³. 

To learn more about other telltale signs that your cleaning tools may no longer suit the needs of your cleaning staff, click here.

2. Clean, Disinfect, and Sanitize — Especially High-Touch Surfaces

To remove dust and debris and help prevent the spread and cross-contamination of germs, it is important to thoroughly clean, disinfect, and sanitize your facility. This is especially important for high-touch surfaces or communal spaces where individuals from different households may come to contact. 

To ensure proper cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing practices are being properly enforced, it is important to understand the difference between them. However, many of us, including custodial and cleaning staff, may not know the difference which can lead us to choosing improper cleaning solutions for our situations and may proceed to misuse them⁴.

To better understand what differentiates these cleaning practices, read our article on how Cleaning is the First of Defense — Wherever You Work.

3. Refresh Breakrooms and Restrooms

Breakrooms and restrooms should be thoroughly cleaned all throughout the year to create and maintain a hygienic and comfortable environment for individuals using these spaces. People often discard their food waste and other dirtied food service supplies in the breakroom, such as utensils and napkins. The restroom is a communal space that can create opportunities for bacteria and germs to multiply and travel to other areas of the facility. Both spaces have the potential to harbour bad smells and odours that not only make for an unpleasant experience for users but can also adversely affect their health. After cleaning these spaces, you should use disinfecting and sanitizing sprays and wipes to eliminate germs on any surface.  

To create a safe and comfortable breakroom and restroom, we recommend you adopt the following recommendations:

Breakroom

• Assess your existing breakroom floor plan and make adjustments to allow for physical distancing.
• Use signage to manage and direct the flow of traffic.
• Stock up on breakroom essentials like dish soap, coffee, snacks, and food service supplies to make sure your workface has what it needs throughout the workday.
• Implement various frequent hand-sanitizing stations or mobile handwashing units to reduce germs in high-touch areas.

Restroom

• Swap out your manual soap and paper dispensers for a touchless dispensing solution, which minimizes the number of surfaces people touch.
• Make sure you are always stocked with hand hygiene essentials like hand soaps, paper towels and tissues.
• Empty waste receptacles at the end of each workday.
• Ensure urinals and toilets are cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized frequently.
• Incorporate odour control solutions.

4. Welcome Building Patrons and Protect Your Floors With Proper Entrance Mats

Your entrance is a high-traffic area, as your workforce and other individuals commute through this space frequently. A good floor mat can not only trap dust and dirt but also absorbs moisture to keep your floors dry, which is important to help prevent workplace slips and falls. Make sure to keep your mats in optimal condition by regularly cleaning them to remove dust, dirt, debris, and other contaminants. 

Regardless of whether you have carpeted or non-carpeted floors, we source high-quality matting solutions that can meet your business need to help make sure your workforce stays on their feet.

5. Ensure Access to Hand Hygiene Solutions

Our expectations have evolved in recent years. People see the value and expect hand hygiene stations in any building or facility that they are occupying. Specifically, hand-sanitizing stations provide convenience and also help promote a healthy and safe working environment that minimizes the spread of germs and bacteria. We recommend you incorporate sanitizing stations in frequently used areas of your facility, such as entrances and exits, meeting rooms, and breakrooms, to name a few.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are a quick way to eliminate common germs and bacteria. From sanitizing wipes and sprays to the commonly used sanitizing gels, explore our assortment of sanitizing solutions now.