Checklist for Protecting your Early Years, Pre School against seasonal Virus and Covid.
To help prevent the Autumn/Winter sickness and bug season in your Early Years Pre School environment, it is wise to get prepared now. Cleaning and disinfecting are part of a broad approach when it comes to keeping children and staff free from seasonal germs and Covid-19. So here is a helpful Checklist for keeping your pre school virus and Covid free.
Knowing the difference between Cleaning, Disinfecting and Sanitising is a good start in understanding what protective routines you need in your early learning centre.
The difference between Cleaning, Disinfecting and Sanitisation.
- Cleaning is a process that removes dirt and grime from work surfaces. The process does not necessarily kill and remove germs, just removes dirt and grime.
- Disinfecting is the process whereby you use chemicals to kill and remove germs and viruses on surfaces and objects.
- Sanitising lowers the number of germs and viruses on surfaces by either cleaning or disinfecting.
Understanding what each process can do in keeping your surfaces clean and disinfected, we now need to look at the areas that require attention. Areas that come into contact on a frequent basis need particular attention, to prevent the spread of germs, viruses and other air borne diseases such as Covid-19.
Typically, an early learning centre procedure will need door handles, desks, computer keyboards, hands-on learning equipment, faucet handles and lockers to be cleaned regularly. However, this comes at a cost to include time, staffing and cost. Many viruses can linger on surfaces for up to 48 hours and has the ability to infect students quickly and effectively. Potentially spreading viruses throughout the whole classroom and further into the school.
Safeguarding staff, children and nurseries.
When safeguarding your staff and children, effective processes need to be adhered to, and as previously mentioned it can be both time consuming and costly. A simple and effective solution is electrostatic cleaning, that provides disinfection by electrostatic charge. The method of electrostatic cleaning is applied from an electrostatic gun, that finely covers everything with disinfectant molecules. This method is the best way to cover a large area, quickly and effectively, compared to using other cleaning methods. Watch this short video on how we 360 degree wrap everything within the environment, click here
Electrostatic sanitisation technology has been successfully used in various NHS Trusts and is endorsed by the MHRA and the British Infection Association.
It is 100% safe and Eco-friendly and provides up to 28 days protection for killing 99.999% of viruses and bacteria. As the most advanced method for tackling viruses, the certified chemicals that are contained in a very fine mist allows antimicrobial droplets to stick to any surface, leaving behind a microscopic layer of antibacterial and virus killing protection.
How to future proof your centre from future disruption.
With the relaxation around Covid testing, mandatary face masks and the legal requirement to self-isolate, no one knows how this Autumn/Winter 2022 term is going to turn out. According to the World Health Organisation, there are still over 23,500.00 cases in the UK*. Also, with the cost of living rapidly increasing, parents will be compelled to send their children to school, putting further risk to your early learning centre.
This will be a difficult period for nurseries to navigate, as cases remain static, but have the potential to further disrupt the day-to-day academic year. Children and staff could be walking into your centre, and no one would know if they were carrying a deadly virus, that could be fatal to your environment.
It is the employer who is responsible for the safety of staff and children, and as such they will need to ensure they have taken all the appropriate steps to operate safely. Mitigating the impact on your staff, children and the environment should be a priority before the dreaded viruses and germs return to the classroom. Having a preventative sanitisation and infection control in place before pupils return to the classroom, will ensure your early year centre, school, university or soft play venue is in a good place when Covid and the sickness season kicks off.
