Concept-O - Prevention of cross-contamination in an easy-to-understand way

IThe cleanliness of healthcare premises is an important component in the provision of clean, safe care and as such, healthcare providers are expected to provide and maintain a clean and appropriate environment that facilitates the prevention and control of healthcare associated infection. All users of healthcare premises have a right to assume that the environment is one where infection hazards are adequately controlled. The essence of good cleaning is that things not only look clean afterwards, but that they are clean.

Basic infection control practices should be followed by all staff with cleaning responsibilities to reduce the spread of infection. We believe that by simplifying the cleaning regime and bringing consistency across all sites and amongst all staff, better standards can be achieved and sustained. One way this can be achieved is to use the colour-coded approach.

Colour-coded cleaning is the process of designating colours to cleaning equipment for use in very specific areas of a building to reduce the spread of germs across certain areas and thereby increasing hygiene throughout. For example, if you have different coloured cloths cleaning the toilet area to the ones cleaning a food table, this reduces the likelihood that bacteria from the toilet will find its way to the food table. Cross-contamination is one of the highest risks in the spread of infection. To most effectively reduce the risk, the colour-coding system should be followed at all times by all staff undertaking cleaning activity.

The four main colours used to separate out areas such as kitchen and food preparation areas, washrooms, communal and administrative areas are red, blue, green and yellow.

Use of colours to segregate the different types of areas to be cleaned:

• Red – bathrooms, showers, toilets, basins and bathroom floors
• Blue – general areas including lounges, offices, corridors and bedrooms
• Green – kitchen areas including satellite kitchen area and food storage areas
• Yellow – bedrooms; when someone has an infection and is cared for in their own room (isolated)

All cleaning items e.g. cloths (reusable and disposable), mops, buckets, and brushes should be colour-coded. It is also worth noting that different spaces will require different types and frequencies of cleaning depending on the activities that are carried out in those spaces. S&E can provide on-site COSHH awareness training and product training on request, as well as provide a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual, folder containing all Material Safety Data Sheets for all S&E branded chemicals, Wall Charts and Posters. An audit can also be undertaken to assess what equipment is required. Speak to your sales representative for further advice.