How to help concierges during a pandemic
Concierges are used to being overlooked. They even say it's as if they walk through walls! However, the situation has changed with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. Concierges have need collaboration of all of us to carry out effective disinfection. So, let's see together what we need to do to help the janitors.
Clear surfaces and premises
If you saw the state of some office spaces or areas sometimes, you would understand that the janitor's job is not always easy. There are sometimes piles of papers on the floor, on the desks. Plants with falling leaves. A half-full cup of coffee or can of liquor. I can assure you that the janitors didn't have time to remove the dead leaves, to pack them down or put them away to clean them better. They have even less time now.
Currently, they have to repeatedly wash and disinfect restrooms, cafeterias, door handles, cabinet handles, door panic bars, stair railings, etc. This represents a significant increase in time.
Also, free up floor space. There are often tons of shoes. Cluttered areas should also be cleared. Leave only the essentials. This will make cleaning and disinfection easier.
Plan what is washable, exclude what is not
Coronavirus survives on these surfaces:
- 3 hours in the ambient air;
- 4 hours on copper;
- 24 hours on paper / cardboard;
- 3 days and more on stainless steel, door handle steel, glass, plastic;
- 6 days on wet surfaces.
What is washable
Covid-19 is eliminated relatively quickly with simple hand washing with warm water and hand soap or with simple washing and disinfection of surfaces. smooth surfaces, not torn or damaged are therefore washable surfaces without problem.
What needs to be eliminated
Conversely, any furniture or accessories, fabric toys, or torn or damaged upholstery must unfortunately be removed. This is because dirt becomes embedded and is more difficult to remove on these surfaces.
Prioritize washing and disinfection activities
Housekeeping staff will have a lot more work to do, with the increased number of surfaces to clean and disinfect. We provided an overview of these surfaces earlier in this article. This will need to be done two to four times a day, depending on the type of building and the number of people present.
So washing and disinfection activities will have to be prioritized over service requests that can be made: Changing lights, transporting orders, etc. Related tasks should be requested with discernment. For now, stick to the essentials.
Collaborate and adapt
The current crisis will require a lot of change, education, and adaptation. In the general population, people tend to touch their faces 2,000 to 3,000 times a day! So, in order to safeguard everyone's health, we must now warn each other to try to reduce this number of times to a minimum.
We must also respectfully warn each other when we don't realize we're not respecting social distancing. We tend to trust people we know. However, Covid-19 knows no preferences. It strikes everywhere, even among colleagues and friends.
Working and living conditions will no longer be the same; they already are. We must stop criticizing and opposing.
One way or another, we have to learn to live with Covid-19. We have to adapt.
