Making The Return To Sport Covid-19 Safe

The sporting world is gearing up to return in the coming weeks, as lockdown restrictions continue to ease.

Although initially most games will be played behind closed doors, the need to keep premises and facilities at sports grounds clean and hygienic remains of paramount importance. This will protect players and staff, and instil confidence amongst fans that the environment will be safe to return to at some point in the not too distant future.

From the changing room and training areas, to the fan shop and bars, robust cleaning practices in sports venues have never been more important. They have the ability to stamp out any bacteria and prevent any further waves of the virus spreading. But if we are to make sporting venues COVID-19 secure, we cannot afford to fall back to traditional, ineffective cleaning methods. Just as the nation needs to get to grips with new ways of working and socialising, the cleaning industry too needs to find a new normal.

At Rawlins we firmly believe that true cleaning is the removal of dirt. It sounds simplistic but the sad fact is that many traditional cleaning methods do everything but that. Surface cleaning, like mopping and wiping, simply move the dirt around, spreading it across the surface, rather than removing it.

And the over reliance on disinfectants must be re-thought. What many people don’t know is that – like the losing battle of antibiotics against superbugs – disinfectants become increasingly ineffective over time.

Yes, the disinfectant may kill most bacteria, but it doesn’t remove them. A traditional mop or cloth then disperses the dead microbes across the surface, serving as a food source for the next wave, along with any surviving bacteria. Given that some bacteria produce biofilms that can effectively defend them from cleaning agents, there is a real danger that disinfectant only increases the bacterial resistance.

As infection control remains the first line of defence against coronavirus, we need to move away from this ‘disinfect and disperse’ method and adopt a robust process-based cleaning regime. At Rawlins, we call this the ‘remove, improve and protect’ strategy.

Remove

On hard surfaces, dirt should be removed by adding water, and the correct chemistry in the form of a pure cleaning solution that is uncontaminated by previous use. With some dwell time and agitation where necessary, high-flow fluid extraction can then be employed to take away the used solution, storing it separately for disposal.

This cleaning process should be carried out at regular intervals, ideally daily, to ensure that the removal of the day’s dirt is all that is required - a simple task when using the correct techniques.

Improve

Using a high-flow fluid extraction process will enable significant improvements from the very first time it is used, enabling cleaners to consistently deliver high standards of hygiene.

The effectiveness of the process can then be proven by taking adenosine triphosphate (ATP) measurements before and after cleaning, to ensure that floors are not just clean, but free of germs.

Protect

The final step of the process should always be to protect the surfaces with a solution like the Zoono Z-71 Microbe Shield, which is a cost-effective, residual polymer-based antimicrobial protection.

The solution provides 30-days active protection for any treated surface, significantly reducing the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses, giving a unique, proven, long-lasting barrier protection. We recommend that main touch points are treated every seven days, with the wider area fogged or sprayed every 21 days for the very best hygiene. Routine cleaning can continue between applications, without disrupting the Zoono molecule or its antimicrobial activity.

In recent months we have teamed up with CleanEvent Services, which frequently uses Zoono Z-71 to protect hard surfaces from becoming a base for the transfer of COVID-19 and other viruses. As the exclusive cleaning partner to Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club, and their new stadium, CleanEvent Services is using the Zoono Z-71 Microbe Shield here, as well as with many of their other clients, to protect players, guest and staff.

By adopting our ‘remove, improve and protect’ cleaning strategy, stadium managers can be confident that their premises and facilities are safe and hygienic for players, staff and fans.

For further information on our equipment and processes visit https://www.rawlins.co.uk/remove-improve-protect-covid

For further information on CleanEvent and their application of Zoono Z-71 Protection visit

https://ceworld.com/our-services/virus-protection-services/