A Look Back on the Pandemic and Lessons Learned

We still do not know the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. All we can hope for right now is that we have reached the tipping point. With the release of different vaccines, our lives and livelihoods should improve over the next several months.

However, we have learned some invaluable lessons in the past 12 months that can help cleaning professionals, building owners, and facility managers to protect themselves and building users now and into the future. Many of these lessons will be long lasting, becoming the next new normal after the pandemic has lifted.

Let’s take a look.

More Focus on Disinfecting

The first lesson is about the role of disinfecting in a maintenance program. Before the pandemic, the bulk of cleaning involved just that, cleaning surfaces. As we have discussed in previous posts, cleaning and disinfecting are not the same. Cleaning removes visible soils; disinfecting eliminates microscopic pathogens on surfaces.

Now, at Secure Clean, effective disinfecting strategies are core to our cleaning and maintenance programs. This has become our top priority and the top priority of most building owners and managers. Frequent and consistent disinfecting, once not always believed necessary, is paramount today, and this will likely be true in years to come.

The Value of Clean

Realizing cleaning services are not all the same, as well as the value a knowledgeable cleaning company brings to the table, is another lesson learned and one that will endure. For decades, cleaning has been viewed as a commodity. This means all cleaning services were thought to be pretty much the same, so why not hire the least costly service. Now we know that the cleaning industry, and the astute players in the industry, do far more than clean. They are "environmental specialists" with "infection control teams" who rely on up-to-date training and new systems designed to protect human health.

"The roles of custodians and janitorial crews have been transformed," says Jeremiah Gray, COO of EarthSafe, makers of the EvaClean disinfecting system we use. "They are now guardians of public health, and this virtually happened overnight."

Pay Attention to Science

Misinformation, both intentional and because we were still just learning about the virus, was considerable when the pandemic first began. "Unqualified sources flooded the market with misinformation, capitalized on public hysteria, and contributed to ‘hygiene theatre,’" says Gray. "This not only distracted from important issues but also caused inappropriate use of chemicals or equipment.”

Worse, as scientists learned more about the coronavirus, some of their findings were undervalued or not followed. This exacerbated an already unprecedented crisis. The lesson learned here is that we must pay attention to the science, especially if it is coming from traditionally reliable sources, those with no agenda other than to protect our health.

Collaboration

The pandemic has taught us one more important lesson, and that is, infection control is everyone's responsibility. This includes the organization cleaning a facility and the people using the facility, as well as managers and owners of the building. Each one of us must work together. Each step we take individually to protect our health and the health of others ultimately plays a commanding role in protecting the health of everyone working in or using a facility. 

Preparing for Risk

Their warnings were not heeded. Bill Gates predicted several years ago that pandemics similar to what we are now experiencing are likely to happen. He was not alone. "The likelihood of another influenza pandemic during the next 50 years is virtually 100 percent," wrote scientist Vaclav Smil, author of Global Catastrophes and Trends. The book was published more than a decade ago.

This means cleaning professionals, building owners, and facility managers must now be prepared for new pandemics and other situations that can impact health as well as building operations. Valuing our cleaning practices, banding together, and listening to credible experts are the best ways to ensure we are ready if, or when, something like this happens again.

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