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Key Steps in the Decontamination Process
Decontamination is the most effective method to get rid of
potentially dangerous substances and bring the premises back to their original
state. This comes in handy for gas leaks in office blocks, chemical spills in
laboratories, or presence of harmful viruses or bacteria in hospitals.
During the decontamination procedure, the professional
complete commercial cleaning service that carries out the job follows a preset
process to ensure the correct cleaning of the affected area according to a
suitable standard. Since the human eye cannot always see germs and chemicals,
this kind of attention to detail is critical.
Three Basic Levels of
Decontamination
Decontamination has three levels that are applicable to
various approaches to things that require cleaning. Depending on how severe the
spill is and the specific contaminant in question, these approaches can be used
together or separately and all three are applicable to complete and thorough
cleans.
These three levels of decontamination include the following:
- Cleaning
Cleaning is the starting point of decontamination that
involves removing the contaminant and all the unwanted substances from walls,
floors, windows, and doors with the use of detergents, simple cleaning products,
and water and soap in some cases.
- Disinfection
Disinfection is the more advanced staged wherein microbes
are removed from objects and surfaces to lessen the risks of infection with the
use of heat or chemicals on individual items. Even if there is no guarantee
that disinfection kills all microorganisms, this can reduce their presence to
prevent harmful diseases and bugs from spreading.
- Sterilization
Sterilization eliminates the remaining viruses,
microorganisms, and bacterial spores. This is done in various ways like through
dry heat, moist heat, use of chemicals, or radiation. Sterilization is often
used in healthcare settings and is mainly utilized on decontamination equipment
because this eliminates all traces to prevent the moving of unwanted substances
elsewhere.
The Decontamination
Process at a Glance
To protect the safety and health of professional cleaners
and make sure that the process of surface and air decontamination is performed
accordingly, a certain structure is being followed. While this might differ a
lot based on the substance involved, the people who do the cleaning, and the
area that needs to be cleaned, all decontamination processes are pretty much
the same.
- Professional cleaners will
change into PPE to keep their skin protected from the contaminant.
- The contaminant will be
surrounded by absorbent materials to prevent its spread before it is
cleaned from the outside inwards.
- After disposing the
contaminant’s visible remnants, a cleaning product will be sprayed on the
area.
- The area will be swabbed
often during the cleaning to know the amount of leftover contaminant if
there is any.
- More advanced devices
might be used to destroy the remaining contaminants in the air or on
surfaces and protect surfaces to ensure that the contaminants don’t appear
again in the future.
- Once cleaning is finished,
the professional cleaners will get rid of all the items used to sanitize
or dispose them accordingly.
Decontamination
is a complex process best left to the hands of professionals like Courtesy
Building Services, Inc.