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Preventing Swine Flu: Disinfecting Electronic Surfaces to Fight the H1N1 Virus
It's important to regularly wash hands, use an antibacterial hand sanitizer and disinfect surfaces to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus. While all three steps are crucial, keeping surfaces sanitized can be particularly challenging in industrial settings.
Floors, desks and countertops are easy to sanitize, but do not forget about other surfaces that are touched frequently. Some electronic equipment, such as touch screens, registers and keyboards, cannot be cleaned with the same solution as floors, but still needs to be disinfected. A wet rag will not kill the germs that collect on these surfaces, and using the same rag on multiple surfaces will increase the spread of germs.
To understand the importance of disinfecting in these situations, imagine a food service setting. The clerk at a fast food restaurant is constantly touching money and multiple touch screen registers as well as the food being served to the customers. Even with regular hand washing, cross contamination will occur, and germs will be transferred to the touch screen and contaminate all of the other surfaces.
Despite this, people are often hesitant to use a cleanser on these types of electronic equipment. If the wrong type of disinfectant is selected, the equipment can be damaged and the warranty nullified. Luckily, there are cleaning solutions designed specifically for the plastic surfaces on electronic equipment. These disinfectants are designed to protect surfaces for up to 24 hours, eliminating the need to clean throughout the day. The Environmental Protection Agency maintains a list of approved cleansers proved effective against the H1N1 virus on their Web site.
Especially in service-oriented businesses where customers and employees are in constant contact, proper sanitization of touch screens and registers is crucial for reducing the risk of spreading swine flu. A complete regimen of cleansing with the proper disinfectant once a day, combined with a regimen of hand washing, hand sanitizer and surface cleaning, can go a long way toward keeping your staff and customers healthy.
