Adding colours to cleaning

Did you know that colour coding your cleaning equipment and tools can create a cleaner, safer and more hygienic environment for you and those around you? To avoid cross-contamination, don’t use the same cloth to wipe your bathroom… and your kitchen top.

Although not legislated, the international colour coded system is mostly used in the healthcare industry and reflects the industry standard for best practice. Today, it is also used in food processing or manufacturing, food service and supermarkets, as well as in aged care homes.

Keeping it clean in aged care

Aged care cleaning is not simple and comes with various challenges as elderly residents are more vulnerable to disease and bacteria, hence maintaining a clean environment is a top priority.

Use green for food and drink preparation areas

Colour codes for cleaning have been used by many commercial businesses since they were first developed in the 1990s by The British Institute of Cleaning (BICSc).

There are predominantly four colours in the BICSc colour scheme and each colour corresponds with a specific janitorial area:

BlueCross began using the colour coded system in 2008. BlueCross General Manager Hospitality, Liz Goldsmith, says all departments and staff across BlueCross residences – from cleaners to staff in catering, lifestyle, care, laundry and café –are trained to use the system.

“Staff are trained as part of their onboarding orientation. We also offer ongoing annual training as a refresher,” says Liz. "We have policies, procedures and detailed step-by-step cleaning instructions for all items in our residences, from call bells to ovens.”

Instructional posters are displayed in kitchens, laundries, cleaners’ rooms and pan rooms as reminders. With the pandemic, online training modules and mini instructional DVDs are now also available for staff training and perusal.

“To create a healthy and more sanitary environment for staff, residents and visitors, we take our cleaning very seriously. For example, all cleaning cloths are colour-coded and a new cloth is used for each cleaning task," says Liz.

“Cleaning chemicals are sprayed or squeezed directly onto the cloth to eliminate the risk of inhalation for both residents and staff. Microfibre mops are also colour-coded, with a clean mop used for each new mopping task.”

How to reduce cross-contamination

Cross-contamination poses one of the highest risks in the spread of disease and bacteria. Distinct colour-coding makes it easier to separate equipment into their correct areas of use or cleaning tasks, thus reducing bacteria cross-contamination between high and low risk areas.

The BICSc colour guidelines are relatively simple to understand. With cleaning equipment like mops, brooms, brushes, cloths and buckets available in various colours these days, you too can adopt this hygienic cleaning system. So, have fun adding some colours to your own cleaning at home!