Germs and colds spread like wildfire throughout schools, colleges and universities, not only among the students but teachers, lecturers and parents too. Especially during winter months where colds and illness are most prevalent and students and staff are predominantly inside at all times due to the diminished weather
Every business and office building has its own unique challenges in maintaining hygiene and the health amongst it’s occupants, they all contain germ hotspots where colds and flu like to frequent and spread. Educational establishments by their very nature are most at risk due to the volume of constantly shifting populations. Here is a list of the most popular germ hot spots in schools and other educational facilities.
- Doorknobs – The only way in and out of rooms, this is a key danger area to the spreading of germs, older buildings suffer more than modern ones due to changes in door technology and most new institutions offer automatic doors to their main entrances which a re key source of germ passing.
- Gym equipment–the pure hand to hand passing and moving of gym equipment together with sweat and close combat makes this a germ hotspot beyond any others. The close proximity of students is bad enough during sport, add in sharing of pads and gloves then you have a breeding ground of germs.
- Soap dispenser levers – Getting students to wash is a hard enough task but to use soap is a minefield, on one hand the product helps cleanse your hands but the levers are the problem and attract all kinds of germs.
- Electronics (library keyboards, for example) – Shared devices will always be a point to spread germs, there is no defence to this as it is now an essential component to education.
- Hand rails – as with door knobs, stair rails are one of the most touched objects in educational environments, again its purpose is important so is difficult to avoid spreading of germs
- Tops of desks and chairs – all students touch desk and chairs and spreading of germs in this environment is unavoidable. Regular cleaning is the only cure.
- Water fountain controls – As with the soap dispenser these can only be operated by hand, it is very difficult to remain germ clear.
So how can you get rid and especially decrease germ spots in a very active environment?
As with everything prevention is always better than a cure. Education is key so one thing you can do is to implement hand washing practices among students and staff – educate them on the dangers of not doing so. Investment in technology is one solution, hands free dispensers, taps, door opening, this can be expensive and can only really be implemented to new buildings.
However the favoured solution of most schools and colleges who require commercial deep cleaning services in Suffolk, Essex or Norfolk is to contract a janitorial company to focus on these using up-to-date cleaning procedures, professionally solving your germ problem without fuss.