Disinfection in the Classroom

As the school year comes into the winter months the topic on the top of many minds is how to keep students, employees, and staff safe during the colder months.

Some kids are learning from their dining room tables, side by side with their siblings with a laptop in front of each face. 

Some kids are spending only a few days in the classroom each week, with only half the desks filled by their peers.

Even kids who are heading back to school full-time have a new, unique experience; mandatory masks, temperature checks, and social distancing are becoming part of the new normal for education. 

But even with all these new precautions, teachers, parents, and students have to wonder: is the school safe? The answer is based on a variety of factors – and school surface disinfection ranks high on the list. Before any school can deem itself self safe, it must take time to fully clean the facility from the baseboard to the HVAC vents.

HVAC Systems and School Safety

Air quality has always been an important part of the educational experience. If the air quality in your schools can trigger a myriad of health problems like asthma, headaches, eye irritation, and everything in between. Furthermore, studies have shown that poor indoor air can actually interfere with cognitive function – literally making it harder for students to learn during the school day! 

Of course, COVID-19 has only brought more attention to the importance of air quality – particularly when it comes to HVAC systems. Because we know the coronavirus can spread through droplets in the air, it is important to have clean, maintained filters for your indoor spaces. These filters can help trap virus-containing droplets and prevent them from spreading sickness throughout a building. This is extremely important for places like schools, which see high traffic throughout each day.

The EPA already has high standards for air quality tools in school buildings. However, schools that are reopening after months of lockdown may need to do some additional cleaning before their HVAC systems are ready for students. These systems have been sitting unused for months; as a result, they’re likely filled with dust, debris, and possibly even mold or mildew. A thorough HVAC disinfection is the best way to ensure clean air in every classroom once the students return.

Alcohol-Based Disinfectants: The Perfect Tool for School Disinfection

If you are preparing to keep your school throughout the winter months, you’ll need to make sure every surface (desks, floors, lockers, etc.) is clean as can be. And we DO mean every surface – even your HVAC vents need to be sparkling clean! How can you disinfect such a massive facility in order to keep everyone safe throughout the year?

Quick-drying alcohol-based sanitizers are the perfect solution for disinfecting your school, office, or other large space. A quick-drying, EPA-registered, alcohol-based disinfectant, like our BIOSPRAY-D2, covers over surfaces quickly, easily, and safely. These types of 1-step disinfectants containing ethanol have been proven to rapidly reduce vegetative bacterial pathogens on carriers and on hard and soft surfaces. 

The importance of using strong disinfectant sprays that are strong enough to eliminate germs on surfaces, but gentle enough to use on surfaces around children is an important part of keeping schools open and the children and staff in the classroom safe and healthy. 

The way in which disinfectant products are applied is also crucial. Traditional methods of cleaning and disinfecting, like pump spraying or manually wiping can be ineffective, leaving gaps in coverage. Manual wiping can lead to cross-contamination due to using soiled rags/towels to apply the cleaner. Manual wiping can also lead to injury due to the repetitive nature of the maintenance worker.

An Award-Winning Product

There’s no doubt that Portable BioSpray-5 is one of the best tools available for school disinfection today. In fact, this sanitation system was just awarded the Spaces4Learning New Product Award! This award “honors the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered to be particularly noteworthy in their ability to enhance the learning environment,” and we are simply thrilled to have received this incredible honor. 

Visit our website to learn more about BioSpray-5. You can also contact us here with any questions you have about this sanitation system, our disinfecting spray, or any of our other sanitizing products. 

Proper school disinfection is the key to a safe, healthy, and successful year, so make sure your staff and students have the very best!