Staying Healthy in Child Care - National Health and Medical ...

Cleaning the centre
Washing germs away
Washing germs down the drain is better than trying to kill germs with disinfectant.
Detergents and soaps help to loosen the germs so that they can be washed away.
Use colour-coded sponges in each area (for example blue in the bathroom, yellow in the
kitchen) and keep them separate. Wear utility gloves when cleaning and hang them
outside to dry when finished. Wash your hands after removing the gloves.
Disinfectants
Disinfectants are usually unnecessary unless a surface cannot be adequately cleaned with
detergent. Most germs do not survive for long on clean surfaces when exposed to air and
light. Even in hospitals, disinfectants are being used less and less.
There is no ideal disinfectant.
Disinfectants cannot kill germs if the surface is not clean. It is more important to make
sure that all surfaces have been cleaned with detergent and warm water than to use a
disinfectant.
To kill germs, any disinfectant needs:
• enough time to kill the germs. This is at least 10 minutes.
• to be used in the right concentration
• a clean surface to be able to get to the germ.
• to be able to act against those particular germs.
Even when all of these conditions are met a disinfectant will not kill all the germs
present. For example in one teaspoon of faeces there may be 1,000,000,000,000 particles
of a virus. After 10 minutes a disinfectant may kill 99.99% of these germs. This sounds
like many germs are killed, but because there are so many germs present the disinfectant
may leave around 1,000,000,000 germs still alive. Less than 100 of these virus particles
can be enough to make enough to make another child sick.
Detergents
Effective cleaning with detergent and warm water, followed by rinsing and drying
removes the bulk of germs from surfaces; germs are unable to multiply on clean, dry
surfaces 13 . Ensure that cleaning equipment is cleaned and stored so it can dry between
uses, well maintained, and designed to reduce dust during use. Appropriate equipment
includes mops with detachable heads (to allow for laundering in washing machine using
hot water), laundered or disposable cloths and vacuum cleaners fitted with appropriate
filters 14 .
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Draft for Public Consultation