Have you ever wondered if the elevator button you touch each day is bacteria-free?
No right?
The answer is an elevator is never a clean space unless it is disinfected on a timely basis. Just like how cleaning your hands using sanitizer has been a priority since the outbreak of COVID-19. An elevator being used by 1000s of people each day requires timely disinfection to ensure clean and safe vertical transportation.
Elevators have a lot of touchpoints, from handrails to call buttons, and they’re small, confined areas where germs may readily hide on surfaces and in the air. Taking elevators down for cleaning would further delay people reaching where they need to go, especially with new social distancing protocols that limit the number of passengers in an elevator. Therefore, Cleaning time must be short yet effective.
Cleaning V/S Disinfecting:
Cleaning and disinfecting hard surfaces in your premises is the most effective approach to prevent germs from spreading. But often they are misinterpreted. To remove and destroy germs, cleaning and disinfection are two separate methods that should be done simultaneously.
Cleaning is the physical removal of germs, dirt, and other impurities from surfaces. A disinfectant must be sprayed to the surface to destroy the harmful bacteria that have been left behind after cleaning. Surface soils are not removed by disinfectants. Because cleaning chemicals cannot penetrate grime on surfaces, disinfectants must be used only after the surfaces have been thoroughly cleaned.
Disinfectants do not clean soils from surfaces. Disinfectants must be used after cleaning agents as they cannot break through soil present on the surfaces. So ideally it is important to use both cleaning and disinfecting together in order to ensure there is a bacteria-free environment.
Guide To Elevator Disinfecting :
1. Start by disinfecting the elevator doors, buttons, walls, and handrails.
2. Use a mild cleaning solution following the manufacturer’s instructions.
3. Be careful when going over the panel where the electrical components are contained.
4. The walls, doors, and handrails require a material appropriate cleaner that won’t cause damage. Stainless steel, for example, needs a specific cleaning that won’t leave unattractive smudges or stains.
5. Avoid using too much cleaner or water that can drip down walls and into the elevator’s electronic components.
6. When disinfecting the button panel, be sure to lock the elevator. Take precautions to ensure the cleaner or water doesn’t seep inside the control panel. This can cause serious damage to internal components.
How Often You Should Clean and Disinfect Your Elevator:
The frequency will depend on the type of building. If you have a busy building with high traffic and dozens of elevators, you might need to clean and disinfect them on a daily basis. However, if you live in a tiny apartment complex with only one elevator, a weekly cleaning may be sufficient.
Medical facilities should obviously take a different approach to their hospital lifts. Elevators in high-traffic locations should be cleaned continually throughout the day since infected individuals are constantly going in and out. During flu season or if another sickness is spreading throughout the building, your elevators may require extra attention. Keep in mind that germs may live for much longer than we believe. Viruses such as COVID-19 can survive on surfaces for a few hours to many days, depending on the type of surface. In this case, regular disinfection is essential to prevent the virus from spreading.
Disinfecting your vertical transportation is as important as disinfecting your home. Contact our elevator experts to know more.
