Is it clean, or not clean? That is the question! For years the definition of clean has been subjective based on how well one can see debris, dust or cobwebs. Or how well the scope of work was defined for task and frequency. Or, let’s be honest, who is paying attention to the cleanliness on any given day? Now that the COVID-19 Pandemic is upon us, cleanliness has taken front and center stage. Gone are the days of let’s get this done as cheap as possible to meet budget cuts and requirements. It’s time to get serious about cleaning and disinfecting.
Certainly, a well-defined scope of work with a task schedule and frequency outline, along with regular scheduled inspection protocols are a good start to establish your cleaning program. Making sure your professional cleaning company understands and has a system to carry them out is just as important. You should also know if they use color-coded microfibers, proper cleaning and disinfecting products for all surfaces, have a supervisor inspection schedule, and a proper back-fill plan due to illness or absenteeism. These are the basics that a good cleaning company will have in place, but now let us introduce another measure of clean…ATP Testing!
ATP testing has been around for years and has been used and developed to monitor cleaning performance in the healthcare and food service industries and now has been introduced for use at all facilities.
ATP testing is a system which offers rapid, sensitive, and quantitative cleaning verification for high touch surfaces. ATP is a molecule found in and around living cells, and as such it gives a direct measure of biological concentration and health. ATP is quantified by measuring the light produced through its reaction with the naturally occurring firefly enzyme luciferase using a luminometer. The amount of light produced is directly proportional to the amount of ATP present in the sample. It is quantified as Relative Light Units (RLU). Each ATP measuring system has established values or benchmarks for different types of facilities.
JaniTek was asked to use ATP testing by several clients who had a suspected/actual COVID-19 outbreak and the clients wanted an additional level of peace of mind that the facility was cleaned properly. ATP testing does not test for COVID, but it does measure the levels of ATP and determines if a surface was cleaned properly.
There are several ATP testing options out there and JaniTek chose the 3M Clean-Trace Hygiene Monitoring and Management System for several reasons. The 3M Clean-Trace system came with an instructor from 3M. A site-plan outline to identify which surfaces and how often. A cloud-based software system which wirelessly uploads data for quantitative analysis. Finally, it gives immediate results and simple and easy to use. All of these features help give our clients a peace of mind that their facility was cleaned and disinfected properly.
Contact JaniTek today to learn more about ATP testing as part of your cleaning and disinfecting plan.
