Hospitality
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Clean dry and wet areas
Avoiding customer inconvenience is the main priority when designing and undertaking cleaning tasks. All cleaning tasks should be planned so that they cause the least inconvenience to the customers.
Safety is also a high priority when cleaning - not only to the person carrying out the cleaning tasks but also their colleagues and customers. Wherever possible areas should be cleaned at a time when they are not in use.
The following guidelines provide practical advice for different situations:
Wet or slippery surfaces
Both internal and external floors need to be regularly washed. In addition to this there will be occasions when spills need to be cleaned. To prevent accidents occurring because of slippery wet surfaces, excess liquid should be mopped up without delay. Immediately after mopping a warning sign should be placed on or near the area to caution customers and colleagues of the slip hazard.
Fumes
Many chemicals used for cleaning give off dangerous toxins or fumes. It is essential that there is adequate ventilation in all areas where these chemicals are used. All windows and doors should be open and exhaust fans switched on. In some instances where different chemicals react with each other or burn, the fumes created will be highly toxic. When this occurs the fumes should be confined within the area. Emergency evacuation procedures should be followed and professionals contacted to help eliminate the dangerous fumes.
Human waste and blood
This includes anything produced by the human body, eg faeces, urine, saliva, semen, vomit and blood. These substances can be dangerous because they are often carriers of potentially harmful microbes. Human waste and blood should be cleaned away as soon as possible and gloves and protective eyewear should be worn. All the waste products must be removed before washing the contaminated area/object with hot water and detergent. After the area has been washed it must be disinfected.
Needles and syringes
These objects have the potential to be highly dangerous and even life threatening because they are often contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, infections or microbes. If a contaminated needle or syringe accidentally punctures a healthy individual’s skin life threatening illnesses may occur. All discarded needles and syringes should be treated as potentially dangerous and handled with extreme care. They should be disposed of in appropriate containers to prevent further risk.
Condoms
Extreme care must be taken when handling used condoms as they usually contain body fluids. Gloves must be worn and where possible tweezers or tongs should be used to pick them up and they should be disposed of in an appropriate container.
Sharp food scraps
Sharp food packaging (eg open tins) and scraps that have very sharp points on them (eg seafood or bones) must be handled carefully as they may puncture the skin. To safely dispose of them they are to be tightly wrapped in newspaper and placed into the garbage receptacle. Gloves should be worn or tongs used.
Surgical dressings
These may include band-aids, cotton buds, cotton balls, dental floss, gauze etc. Safety is a must as they may be contaminated with body fluid. The contaminated item must be wrapped in newspaper and disposed of into the garbage receptacle. Gloves must be worn while handling this type of waste.
Breakages
Glass and crockery are potentially dangerous when they break in food preparation areas due to the risk of food contamination. Glass can be extraordinarily dangerous, as it not only breaks but splinters leaving minute pieces of glass not visible to the naked eye. Extreme care should be taken to remove all particles from food preparation areas and any food which may have been contaminated should be immediately discarded.
Broken furniture should be removed immediately to prevent potential accidents, eg customer sitting on broken chair and falling.
Fat and oil
When fat or oil is spilled it creates a dangerously slippery surface. If spills do occur immediate action must be taken to prevent accidents. Paper towels should be used to absorb the oil. The area then should be washed thoroughly with a mix of hot water and detergent. This should be followed with another wash with hot water only to remove detergent residue left from the first wash.
Sharp objects
These include needles, syringes, knives, skewers and scissors. These sharp objects may be found in discrete places, eg down the back of a lounge or under cushions. When cleaning, take care in these discrete areas to avoid injury.
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