We all know that a safe and healthy workplace is of great importance to all of the various industries we work in. A lot of time and money is spent on providing a safe work environment and a safe environment for patrons. Safety is also one of RMC’s top metrics. As such RMC looks for ways to help our employees and customers stay safe and keep the areas clean. Every day, RMC helps customers protect their investments in equipment to not only keep it clean, but also to help keep workers safe when using the equipment. Some of this is done through various types of field and laboratory testing. Testing can provide evidence and validation for acceptable industrial hygiene, including the proper use of RMC products, environmental data and even clinical information for health authorities. The ability to test COVID-19 on hard surfaces can be another tool in our tool box. Most importantly, it provides a means to stay healthy and safe and to reduce the spread of this virus. However, it also provides a means to validate how we clean and disinfect the common areas we all use every day.
Rochester Midland now has the ability to provide COVID-19 hard surface testing as a service to our customers. Owners of all business types may take advantage of this testing service. Imagine how helpful this could be to a business when patrons and employees know that you are doing even more to assure valid cleaning and disinfection protocols and that the products your maintenance team uses are working. With proper sampling design, statistical control and keeping the technique constant and consistent you may even be able to learn more about the maintenance procedures in place. Even regular spot checks can help validate protocols within high traffic areas & commonly used areas around the workplace. The testing is unique in terms of how it can be used to validate your cleaning and disinfection protocol for any hard surface. The sampling may be designed creatively and planned carefully to minimize the cost of testing and the need for multiple viral transport media kits used.
Planning to determine the areas of most concern with your RMC representative is necessary for a good testing program. There are many examples, but suppose you wanted to test a bathroom and a breakroom once per month after cleaning and disinfection is completed. You may wish to minimize cost and use 1 swab for each room. This would equate to only 2 samples. However each swab can be carried around the respective room for hard surface contact swabbing on key surfaces within the room. If any surface in the room has molecules of COVID-19 viable or non-viable, then additional testing and/or changes to protocol may be warranted for that particular room. Over time, if you continue to have a repeated problem in a particular area, it follows that something in the protocol for the cleaning & disinfection process will likely need to change or perhaps it is the product that may need to change. Any sampling protocol can be modified with controls as necessary to get more specific when needed.
Rochester Midland is very pleased to be able to offer this added service to our customers. Please contact your area representative if you would like to learn more.
