---

Post Lockdown Infection Control Measures Facility Managers Should Implement to Help Stay COVID-19 Secure

Nearly a year after the first Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) case was recorded in the UK, the pandemic has continued to have a substantial impact on all industries. Health and safety measures need to be strictly enforced to ensure employees and visitors are able to function effectively in a COVID secure space, which makes the role of a facility manager more vital than ever.

Here, Enrico Allegra, Lead Microbiologist at Inivos – UK infection control and decontamination providers, outlines the post lockdown measures facility managers can put into place to help their building remain COVID-19 secure.

What Are The Challenges Faced By Facilities Managers During COVID-19?

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a facility manager's role – to integrate people, places, and processes within a building to improve the quality of life and safety of the occupants – has never been more paramount. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, facility managers have had to review and adapt to changing government guidelines on a regular basis.

One of the biggest changes has been adapting from managing a high volume of workers in a building, to rapidly implementing new social distancing policies, health and safety measures, and carefully managing lower building occupancy and workplace traffic flow to help minimise the spread of the virus.[1]

In the coming weeks and months, it is likely that more workplaces will reopen and will see an influx of staff returning to work. This will inevitably increase the risk of spreading COVID-19 due to more people interacting with each other. However, there are many ways that facility managers can help reduce this risk - one being decontamination.

How Decontamination Measures Can Help Reduce Risk

Effective decontamination is crucial to limiting the spread of the virus. COVID-19 is highly contagious and can quickly spread throughout a facility in a short matter of time.

The risk of infection spreading is also heightened because SARS-CoV-2, the viral pathogen which causes COVID-19, is mainly transmitted via respiratory droplets that have the potential to linger in the air or on surfaces for prolonged periods of time. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), up to 80 percent of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic or only present mild symptoms.[2] This means that the virus can spread quickly as many people do not realise that they are infected and continue to interact with others - unknowingly passing on the virus.

Therefore, to meet workplace health and safety requirements, facility managers must implement robust measures to ensure a COVID-19 free environment for any workers or members of the public who enter the buildings they manage. To do this, facility managers should enlist a proactive approach to decontaminating all spaces.

Whilst manual deep cleaning is an important part of containing the spread of virus, it is simply not enough on its own. This is because it has become increasingly apparent that manual cleaning alone is not capable to reduce contamination to a safe level due to unavoidable human error. To combat human error, more robust measures need to be in place to reduce the risk of viral transmission.

Unlike manual cleaning and hygiene measures, decontamination systems use hydrogen peroxide vapour (HPV) or ultraviolet-C (UV-C) technology which can decontaminate an entire space from pathogenic microorganisms within a matter of minutes or hours. HPV and UV-C, although used in slightly different settings, have both been demonstrated to be highly effective at decontaminating COVID-19 and other harmful pathogens within a short space of time.

How Different Decontamination Technology Works

HPV technology works by filling an area with hydrogen peroxide in the form of vapor where UV-C works by shining light directly onto a specific area. Although in slightly different mechanisms, they both work by interacting with the internal genetic material of microorganisms by breaking down DNA/RNA strands which will in turn lead to cell lysis and cell death. This method can effectively reduce harmful pathogens by up to 99.9999% (>log 6).[3]

UV-C has a faster decontamination time compared to HPV, which makes it particularly useful for buildings which house healthcare providers as they need to be decontaminated far more regularly than other facilities. UV-C is also very well suited when it comes to the regular decontamination of small spaces such as kitchens, toilets, and communal spaces.

HPV technology, on the other hand, has a longer decontamination cycle but is able to reduce contamination level from hard-to-reach areas such as folds and corners of material, as well as the room itself. This makes it best suited for buildings with a high turnover of different people entering every day.

Both technologies can be operated remotely, giving maximum safety to the end user.

Ultra-V Connect technology – which emits UV-C – also uses a remote-controlled device which eliminates microorganisms in as little as eight minutes. The technology works in the same way as UV-C; however, it is designed to be fixed to the ceilings of rooms for convenient regular decontamination. Ultra-V Connect is particularly useful for healthcare environments, such as hospitals, dental clinics, and urgent care facilities. The reason being that the technology can rapidly eliminate pathogens between patient appointments, making it especially useful following diagnostic tests and aerosol-producing procedures.

The Importance Of Assessing The Workplace

To ensure the safety and smooth running of a business or organisation, facility managers should perform a full risk assessment of the workplace to understand, and subsequently mitigate, all COVID-19 associated risks. For example, the functional areas of an office are not the only places that workers risk being exposed to COVID-19. Communal areas, such as bathrooms, kitchens, doorways, and reception rooms, all offer opportunities for the virus to spread. It is therefore essential that facility managers help to coordinate ways to reduce this risk.

Providing staff with multiple hand sanitiser stations, regularly decontaminating rooms, the use of face masks where social distancing is not possible and understanding the movement of people within a building can help keep staff safe and protected by minimising the environmental contamination level.

Understanding the movement of people in a building is beneficial for infection control because managers can keep track of the most occupied areas in a building, and the times when particular spaces are vacant. This will inform them as to how often a space needs decontaminating, and when it should take place to minimize disruption as much as possible.

Looking To The Future

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the limits of many businesses. Ultimately, by implementing regular decontamination, hand hygiene policies, and maintaining social distancing, business leaders and facility managers can help keep themselves and their employees and visitors safe. By strictly adhering to these recommendations, businesses will be able to reduce the risk of infection and build a safer working environment.

1: Hill International (2020) Available here https://www.hillintl.com/en/articles/2020/facility-management-professionals-adapt-to-covid-19

2: WHO (2020) Coronavirus Disease Situation Report. Available here https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200306-sitrep-46-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=96b04adf_4

3: Inivos (2020) Available here https://www.hygiene-solutions.co.uk/proxcide-hospital-decontamination