National Custodian Day - October 2

They don't ask for recognition, and many don't even want to be placed in the limelight. But, once a year, custodians are recognized with a day of their own.  It's called National Custodian Day and it falls annually on October 2.  This year that is a Saturday.  

National Custodian Day recognizes the work that is done by custodians as they toil away at their normal cleaning tasks such as emptying garbage, cleaning restrooms, washing windows and so on.  It also recognizes the behind-the-scenes work they do which often goes unnoticed.  And with COVID-19 raging the last 18 months, custodians have been thrown into a whole new ballgame of keeping buildings clean and disinfected while at the same time keeping themselves and their families healthy.    

Interested in learning more?  Check out a few links that highlight this annual day.  

Link One

Link Two 

Link Three

National Cleaning Week is Coming!

Never before has cleaning been on the minds of not just janitors, custodians, housekeepers and others, but the whole world because of COVID.  Words like disinfect, sanitize and sterilize have been tossed around like popcorn in an air popper. It's no longer unusual to hear people talking about using hand sanitizer, washing your hands for 20 seconds, covering your mouth, wearing a mask, keeping physical distance between each other, vaccinations and more.  It's just the norm now.

So, each year on the fourth Sunday of March and lasting for a week is National Cleaning Week.  This event brings to the fore cleaning and why it's so important.  In the past this was a highlighted week.  Now, it is highlighted in fluorescent colors because of COVID.  People everywhere are thinking about staying clean, healthy and virus-free.  

Therefore, from March 28 to April 3, whilst thou cleans at home, work or otherwise, think about National Cleaning Week and what it means.  Use it as an opportunity to ponder why cleanliness is so important and to empathize with people in this country and others that don't live where cleanliness is as easily carried out.  Stay healthy, be wise and take some time to meditate on clean!

ISSA

National Day Calendar

CMMONLINE

October 15 - Global Handwashing Day

In this new age of awareness regarding disinfecting due to COVID-19, more than ever before there's a great need to wear masks, physical distance and especially wash hands.  When people don't wash their hands, the spread of disease, not just COVID-19, increases.  Cultures in the past didn't wash hands and the rate of sickness and death was much higher.  

A great example of the positive results of hand washing can be seen by the case of Ignaz Semmelweis.  He was a Hungarian physician and scientist who is now considered a pioneer of antiseptic procedures.  He noted that there was a high rate of puerperal fever occurring in mothers after giving birth, many of which died.  He discovered the cause was due to the fact that doctors were going straight from the morgue to helping mother give birth without washing their hands.  The spread of disease was rampant.  Unfortunately, many of his colleagues did not believe him and his simple step of washing hands in a solution of chlorinated lime solutions was scoffed at.  He eventually ended up dying in an insane asylum.  Only years later after the discoveries by Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister were his hand washing techniques taken seriously.

The point is, hand washing is a very, very simple way to limit the spread of disease.  If everyone practices this regularly, outbreaks like COVID-19 might never occur.  So, pay special attention to October 15, Global Hand Washing Day.  Although it's an annual event, it highlights the important need of washing hands every day.  Be wise, stay healthy!

October 15 - Global Handwashing Day

Have COVID-19 Will Travel

So, the newest information from the CDC states that the COVID-19 virus can infect people via airborne transmission, even to people farther than six feet away or even to someone who enters the space where an infected person recently was.  Check out the full article taken from cmmonline.com.  All previous cautions to avoid catching this virus still apply.  Just be smart and wise regardless of the inconveniences.  

As a facility manager, improving your building’s ventilation and indoor air quality continues to be a priority, especially during an infectious disease pandemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has again updated its COVID-19 guidance website to confirm that the SARC-Cov-2 virus can be spread through airborne transmission, especially in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation, CNN reports.

The updated guidance states there is evidence that even if people space themselves six feet or farther apart, they can still become infected by small droplets and particles which remain in the air for minutes and hours. CDC said the “update acknowledges the existence of some published reports showing limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after the COVID-19-positive person left an area.” As a result, the CDC recommends that people avoid crowded indoor spaces and that building managers ensure indoor spaces are properly ventilated.

Last month, the CDC first updated its guidance to say the coronavirus could spread through airborne transmission. However, the agency said a draft version of the guidance was posted in error and switched back to its earlier guidance until it could complete its scientific review process.

Although airborne transmission is possible, the CDC stresses that the main method of contracting COVID-19 is through close contact with an infected individual. Therefore, the CDC’s recommendations for avoiding COVID-19 remain the same: follow social distancing protocols, wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, clean surfaces frequently, and stay home when you are sick.

For best practices in improving your facility’s indoor air quality, register for the upcoming Identifying and Solving Indoor Air Issues  workshop on November 12.