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Cleaning and Cleaning and Cleaning By Janet L. Keyes, CIH
May you live in interesting times. That seems an appropriate curse for today. As I write this, we have protests and pandemics. While I hope none of the turmoil affects you directly, it could affect the cars you work on and the people you work with. What if an employee arrives at work feeling okay, but develops symptoms of COVID-19 over the morning? What if an unused car has become a squirrel den? What if a pepper bomb canister broke a car window and the car is towed to you? Cleaning cars used to be so easy. Grab some car soap, lather it up, rinse it off. It has gotten more complicated. People haven’t been driving as much, so that car may have turned into a rodent’s den. Sick people may have coughed up a storm in it, so in this pandemic time, we worry whether working on the car will make us sick. Do you need to call in one of those trauma clean-up companies every day? No. You can handle this – provided you follow some basic hygiene principles. Infection Control Clean, disinfect. The basic rules for that: 1) Do not use compressed air to clean. It does not clean – it just moves things from one place to another.
2) If the surface is dirty, clean it before you try to disinfect it. Any cleaner compatible with the surface can be used. 3) Use an EPA-listed disinfectant, one on the EPA N-list (cfpub.epa.gov/giwiz/disinfectants/ index.cfm) 4) Follow the label instructions. Of particular importance: a. Use it at the recommended strength. Stronger does not mean better. Stronger concentrations sometimes are less effective. b. Use the required contact time. That is the time the disinfectant must be wet on the surface. Shorter contact times mean the product may not work. 5) Protect the person doing the cleaning against infectious agents and against the cleaners and disinfectants. At a minimum, that means gloves and eye protection. 6) Cleaning surfaces is not a substitute for keeping your distance and covering your cough. The primary way COVID-19 is spread is through the air, particularly when people are close together.
AASP-MN News July 2020 DIGITAL BONUS CONTENT
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