Improved system for floor cleaning in health care facilities

Area of Science:

• Healthcare-associated infection control
• Environmental hygiene in clinical settings

Background:

• Traditional hospital floor cleaning involves dusting, wet mopping with disinfectant-detergent, and buffing.
• This conventional method has limitations in effectively reducing microbial contamination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a new hospital floor sanitizing system.
• To compare its efficacy against traditional cleaning methods in reducing bacterial contamination.

Main Methods:

• The new system comprises dust mopping with a treated mop, machine buffing of a polymer spray, and a second dust mopping.
• Effectiveness was assessed via surface and air sampling for bacterial contamination and dust levels.

Main Results:

• The new system achieved a 93.6% reduction in floor bacterial contamination, compared to 79.8% with conventional wet mopping.
• Airborne bacteria and dust levels showed no significant increase during or after the new sanitizing procedures.
• Microbial profiles in air samples remained consistent before and after cleaning.

Conclusions:

• The new floor sanitizing system is significantly more effective than traditional wet mopping in removing microbial contamination.
• This innovative approach offers improved hospital hygiene with reduced labor requirements.