A quick look at indoor air quality, and sanitation

Given the primary transmission means of Covid-19 - airborne - a bit of thought on indoor air quality generally seems a topical idea.

A bit ago, I was asked for a quote on nightly janitorial service, for a largish distribution center pretty close to my office in downtown Phoenix.  They currently have the folks who do cleaning and miscellaneous chores in the warehouse catch the office cleaning when (and if) they finish in the warehouse, with predictable results: flu and colds traveling through the office, various breathing issues, and so on.  And lots of dust.

The vacuum (when used, which seems not very often) is an ancient, unfiltered model.  No thought has been give to chemicals or methods used to clean and disinfect the restrooms, let alone office touch points.  We talked a bit about the usual areas - drinking fountain and sink handles, the fridge and microwave doors, door handles generally.  The administrator I met with allowed that she had a box of sanitizing wipes in her desk, that she uses to wipe down her own desk, but had not thought of having someone use it repeatedly during the day, on common area touch points, at least during flu season.  All in all, it seems a bit surprising that the office staff retains any level at all of good health.

Couple other areas I've chanced across over the years that I should have mentioned: the kitchen sponge or dish rag, a superb repository for pathogens, can be sanitized by a couple minutes in the microwave; do so often.  Second, the water reservoir on the coffee maker can grow lots of neat stuff; run vinegar through it (and then rinse, at least before making your own coffee) regularly.

We clean for health, disinfecting restrooms and lunchrooms, and sanitizing all the touch points mentioned above, and then some; also, we vacuum using HEPA filtered vacuums.  But we're only there once per day.  A bit of care periodically during the work day can perform wonders.

Given the primary transmission means of Covid-19 - airborne - a bit of thought on indoor air quality generally seems a topical idea.

A bit ago, I was asked for a quote on nightly janitorial service, for a largish distribution center pretty close to my office in downtown Phoenix.  They currently have the folks who do cleaning and miscellaneous chores in the warehouse catch the office cleaning when (and if) they finish in the warehouse, with predictable results: flu and colds traveling through the office, various breathing issues, and so on.  And lots of dust.

The vacuum (when used, which seems not very often) is an ancient, unfiltered model.  No thought has been give to chemicals or methods used to clean and disinfect the restrooms, let alone office touch points.  We talked a bit about the usual areas - drinking fountain and sink handles, the fridge and microwave doors, door handles generally.  The administrator I met with allowed that she had a box of sanitizing wipes in her desk, that she uses to wipe down her own desk, but had not thought of having someone use it repeatedly during the day, on common area touch points, at least during flu season.  All in all, it seems a bit surprising that the office staff retains any level at all of good health.

Couple other areas I've chanced across over the years that I should have mentioned: the kitchen sponge or dish rag, a superb repository for pathogens, can be sanitized by a couple minutes in the microwave; do so often.  Second, the water reservoir on the coffee maker can grow lots of neat stuff; run vinegar through it (and then rinse, at least before making your own coffee) regularly.

We clean for health, disinfecting restrooms and lunchrooms, and sanitizing all the touch points mentioned above, and then some; also, we vacuum using HEPA filtered vacuums.  But we're only there once per day.  A bit of care periodically during the work day can perform wonders.