Maintenance
Healthy Cleaning
Photo By IAMSUTHICHA
A recent study found that daily
disinfection of a public school could reduce absenteeism significantly.
The two-year study involved two schools in the Flagler
Schools County School District in Bunnell, FL.
In the 2017-2018 school year, the district began using an
electrostatic sprayer in one school oncer per month to help improve
the health of the facility and, hopefully, reduce infection
rates. The electrostatic sprayer is designed to release a disinfectant
spray onto surfaces, killing a wide range of pathogens.
In a second school, that regime was beefed up considerably by
performing disinfecting strategies daily.
As to the results, according to a report in CleanLink, “the
school that received daily treatment from the electrostatic technology
reported [a] 14 percent reduction in absenteeism and no
outbreaks of illness. The other school saw a decline in absenteeism,
though it was less significant.”
Taking this a step further, another study was conducted in
Canada and reported by Bunzl, a multinational distribution
and outsourcing company based in London. This study involved
Southview Public School, which is part of the Limestone School
District in Ontario, Canada.
According to the researchers, schools are home to many harmful
pathogens that can cause viral respiratory illnesses, coughs,
colds and influenza. “They are responsible for most of the absenteeism
in K–12 schools, not only in Canada, but in many parts
of the world.”
To conduct this study, the researchers once again used an
electrostatic sprayer disinfecting system. But this time, two
other cleaning technologies were brought into the picture. These were:
- Microfiber cleaning cloths, and
- “no-touch” or “spray-and-vac” cleaning systems — a name coined
by ISSA, the worldwide cleaning association.
The microfiber cleaning cloths
were selected because they are highly
absorbent. When compared to
traditional terrycloth towels, not
only are they more absorbent, they
also tend to hold soils and pathogens
longer, so that they are less
likely to spread contaminants from
one surface area to another. Furthermore,
many terrycloth towels release
lint. When used in cleaning, the
lint fibers from terrycloth towels can
absorb pathogens that then become
deposited on surfaces in the cleaning process.
The no-touch/spray-and-vac cleaning system was added because
it helps remove soils from surfaces instead of spreading them. When
used to clean floors, these systems eliminate the need for mops,
whether microfiber or traditional. While microfiber has proven to
be a more effective cleaning tool than conventional cleaning cloths,
once it becomes saturated with soil and contaminants, it can spread
pathogens instead of removing them.
To conduct the study, five locations were selected in three
different classrooms at the Southview school. A total of 40 different
surfaces were tested before cleaning. This helped determine
the amount of contamination on the surfaces and provided
a benchmark for tests. Researchers now had a general idea of
how contaminated these surfaces can become on a regular basis.
The same surfaces were then tested again after cleaning to see if
cleaning effectiveness improved using the three cleaning technologies.
This is what they reported:
- The number of live bacteria, referred to as colony-forming
units (CFUs) in the classrooms, decreased by 93 percent;
this indicated that the cleaning effectiveness using the three systems improved significantly.
- Comparing the 2017-2018 school year, when the three cleaning
technologies were not used, with the 2018-2019 school year
when they were used, there were “513.5 fewer absent days, representing
a 15 percent reduction in overall school absenteeism.”
Additional Cleaning Benefits
While these studies show compelling evidence that more effective
cleaning can help reduce absenteeism, the researchers also
wanted to know what the custodial workers at the school thought
about the technologies. For instance, instead of increasing cleaning
times, which might be assumed using the three different
cleaning systems, the cleaning workers found that cleaning times
were reduced. One custodian reported that he could clean the
classrooms "in a quarter of the time it used to take."
The benefits of the microfiber cleaning cloths were also noted.
Cleaning workers could tell they helped trap soils more effectively
than terrycloth, helping to absorb and not spread contaminants
on to other surfaces.
As to the no-touch/spray-and-vac cleaning systems, it was
noted that these cleaning systems helped the custodial staff
minimize soil build-up in the restrooms. The restrooms in
this school are considered "heavy traffic" areas, used by many
students throughout the day. It was determined that the more
thorough cleaning achieved through using the spray-and-vac
cleaning systems helped reduce soil buildup to make cleanup
operations easier over the long term.
The Practicality of Enhanced
Cleaning Effectiveness
Of course, the goals of both of these studies were to help
keep students (and staff, we might add) in school and healthier
throughout the year. Apparently, they proved this can be done.
Enhanced cleaning effectiveness has some very practical benefits
as well. One is pure "bread and butter." In most states, school funding
and attendance go hand-in-hand. For instance, a charter school
in a low-income neighborhood in California loses $41 per day for
each student not in school. One financially struggling school district
in San Diego loses $29 each day a student is not in class.
Students may be absent for a variety of reasons, such as truancy,
suspension or family emergencies. However, a significant
number of these absences are due to health-related issues that can
be averted with more effective cleaning processes and procedures.
Another very practical benefit of enhanced cleaning is student
performance. A September 2018 study, “Student Absenteeism:
Who Misses School and How Missing School Matters for Performance,”
conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, examined
several issues related to student attendance. This included issues
such as which students are most often absent from school, how often
and how many days they are absent, as well as many social-economic
factors that can result in school absenteeism.
However, it is their conclusion, which is of importance here.
The researchers concluded: “Our analysis confirms prior research
that missing school hurts academic performance: Among
eighth-graders, those who missed school three or more days in the
month before being tested scored between 0.3 and 0.6 standard
deviations lower (depending on the number of days missed) on the
2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics
test [when compared to] those who did not miss any school days.”
The Takeaway
Is our takeaway that school administrators should run out and
purchase some of the types of cleaning systems discussed here to
help reduce student absenteeism? Not necessarily. Ultimately, our
goal is for administrators to realize that effective cleaning is an
investment that pays dividends in many different ways.
Each year, most school districts order cleaning-related supplies
and equipment for the school year. Often, these are the
same items purchased the year before.
Let's do something new this year. Let's take a closer look at the
cleaning solutions, tools and equipment selected in the past and see
if newer or different tools can be selected that may prove to be a
better investment in the health of those we are educating.
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2020 issue of Spaces4Learning.