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Swine flu - plea to employers

Press release issued 21^st July 09 for immediate use

Swine flu – Plea to employers “Keep cleaners in the loop”

The desired result of the Government’s “catch it, bin it, kill it” campaign to control swine flu, may be giving one group of workers a headache.

As the virus gathers pace, cleaners everywhere are now faced with bins full of potentially germ-laden tissues. Their job demands close contact with these – and other rubbish – and they often deal with rubbish from thousands of people, particularly in large buildings like council offices etc.

But although tissues may seem to be a key focus for contamination, according to the HPA the virus only lives on these for about 30 minutes. However hard surfaces like desks and keyboards, and hard items in bins like drink-cans etc, could harbour the virus for up to 2 days

Pete Clutterbuck, Operations Director of waste management and cleaning company, Waste Efficiency Ltd has issued a plea to employers to keep the cleaners in the loop:

“NHS and HPA guidelines say if anyone is unwell with flu-like symptoms then they should self isolate at home to reduce the risk of the virus spreading to other people.

“However cleaners usually cannot possibly know who is ill in an office, school or factory. They do their job late in the evening after everyone has gone home, so do not know what’s happened in the preceding hours.

“Our request to employers is to try to keep the cleaners informed by putting a simple desk or work-area sign up if anyone has had to self-isolate. This can alert the cleaners to ensure that all nearby hard-surfaces are cleaned thoroughly as priority.”

Pete Clutterbuck, who directs numerous cleaning, recycling and waste management accounts throughout the country said that he’s received a lot of requests for advice from his clients, and therefore has issued a general guideline for cleaners and employers which his available freely on the waste efficiency website: www.wasteefficiency.co.uk

He continues: “Professional and thorough cleaning regimes are very much a weapon in the fight against the spread of the disease, and by taking just a few seconds to keep the cleaner in the loop, we hope it can make a difference.

Advice for cleaners and cleaning companies:

Although tissues may seem to be a key focus for contamination, the virus only lives on these for about 30 minutes. However, other items in the bins like drink-cans, etc, could harbour the virus for up to 2 days, so cleaners need to treat all rubbish equally, and we advise our cleaners to wear disposable rubber gloves where available and to dispose of these immediately that they are taken off.

When wearing rubber gloves it is important to wash hands after they have removed them as one hand will touch the rubber glove and thereby potentially be in contact with the virus. Avoid touching face, mouth or nose whilst wearing gloves or before you have washed your hands. Wash hands frequently with soap and water.

Anyone (including cleaners) should self isolate if they are showing flu-like symptoms and seek further advice over the phone from their GP or NHS Direct.

Advice to employers and employees:

Should anyone need to self-isolate, consider putting a notice on their desk or workspace to alert the cleaner to ensure that all nearby hard-surfaces are cleaned thoroughly as priority.

All disposable tissues should be disposed of appropriately and promptly.

It is sensible for bins to be emptied daily as a minimum

If possible encourage a DAILY wipe-down of well-used hard surfaces, including door handles, telephones, keyboards, desks, machines, etc, using a cleaning product according to instructions.

Offer a supply of disposable tissues for customers and staff to use, and check you have enough bins – it is important that people dispose of tissues promptly –not spreading the virus around by putting them in your handbag or pockets.

Encourage people to practice good hand and respiratory hygiene –using disposable tissues to catch secretions caused by coughing and sneezing and to dispose of these promptly to stop the virus spreading.

Encourage people to wash their hands regularly, ensure soap is always available in washrooms as ordinary soap and water will suffice to destroy the virus.

Full government health advice on Swine Flu is at : http://www.hpa.org.uk/