Best Practices for Environmental Cleaning
Module 2 – Routine Practices
Building a Culture of Safety
• Employers have responsibilities to keep employees
safe in the workplace
• Their responsibility includes having clear policies
and procedures and educating staff regularly
• The employee too, has responsibilities to work
safely which includes following the workplace’s
policies and procedures
2
Why follow Routine Practices?
Routine Practices
Prevents
Transmission
of
Microorganisms
...
. . . from
. . . from
. . . from
. . . from
Client
to
Client
Client
to
Staff
Staff
to
Client
Staff
to
Staff
Routine Practices
Routine Practices
• Are used for all patients/residents/clients
• Include risk assessment and risk reduction
• Are based on the fact that all body fluids and
mucous membranes contain germs
• Reduce exposure to body fluids by health care
provider and others
4
Three Components
1. Risk assessment: What am I walking into?
2. Risk reduction strategies: How do I protect myself?
3. Education: Am I keeping up to date?
5
Why follow Routine Practices?
For everyone’s safety!
6
Remember that Germs are everywhere,
so always use Routine Practices!
7
1. Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment should be done:
•
At the beginning of your shift and
•
Before entering a client’s room or bed space
At beginning of shift:
Ask unit staff if there are any concerns that
environmental services need to know?
8
Risk Assessment
Before entering the patient’s/resident’s room:
•
What are you walking into? Look for signage
•
Do you have what you need to do this task?
If not, get the information/equipment you need
•
Are there any behavioural issues? Be aware
9
Safety
Coming in contact with the following may increase
your risk:
• Patients/residents/clients with broken skin
• Used equipment or soiled surfaces
• Blood, body fluids, secretions
• Soiled tissues
10
Other factors to consider
A cluttered environment
makes the room more
difficult to clean
11
Summary of Risk Assessment
• Perform a risk assessment before entering each
room
STOP
THINK
PROTECT
YOURSELF
12
Learning Checkpoint
13
True or False?
Risk assessment:
1. Should be done on clients that are on additional
precautions only
2. Involves asking yourself a series of questions
before entering a client’s room
3. Involves checking in with appropriate staff for
special instructions
14
Learning Checkpoint Answers
Risk assessment:
1. Should be done on clients that are on additional
precautions only - FALSE
2. Involves asking yourself a series of questions before
entering a client’s room - TRUE
3. Involves checking in with appropriate staff for
special instructions - TRUE
2. Protecting yourself and others
Based on your assessment, some of the following risk
reduction strategies may be put into place.
16
Hand Hygiene
Hand hygiene is the most important factor in
preventing transmission of harmful organisms! Soap
and water or an alcohol based hand rub can both be
used to kill the germs on your hands.
17
Hand Hygiene
Remember the 4 moments for hand hygiene:
For more education about hand hygiene see the
Just Clean Your Hands Module for Environmental Staff
18
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Choose the proper PPE
to protect yourself
• PPE protects you from
harmful substances
• Some of the common PPE
will be discussed
19
Gloves
• The most common PPE
• Task-specific and single-use
• Wear when there will be contact with blood and
body fluids, waste and soiled linen
• Always perform hand hygiene before putting on
gloves and after glove removal
• When removing remember: glove to glove for the
first glove and skin to skin for the second glove
20
"If it’s wet, warm, and not your
own . . . then you need gloves"
21
Glove use
When to wear gloves
When not to wear gloves
•Cleaning client rooms
•Making a bed
•Cleaning washrooms
•Stocking rooms
•Removing waste
•Hanging clean curtains
•Handling dirty linen/laundry
•Moving clean furniture
•In the hallway
22
Learning Checkpoint
23
True or False?
• Gloves should be worn when pushing a cart down
the hall
• Gloves should be worn when cleaning a body fluid
spill
• Gloves should be worn when making a bed
• Gloves should be worn when removing waste
Learning Checkpoint Answers
• Gloves should be worn when pushing a cart down the
hall - FALSE
• Gloves should be worn when cleaning a body fluid
spill - TRUE
• Gloves should be worn when making a bed - FALSE
• Gloves should be worn when removing waste - TRUE
Gowns
• Wear if there is a risk of splashing or soiling by body
fluids
• Gowns should be put on before any
other PPE
• Long sleeve gowns should be worn
• Soiled gowns are removed right after
use and hand hygiene is performed
26
Masks, Face & Eye Protection
• Facial protection is worn when there’s a risk of
splashing or when within 2 meters of a coughing
patient/resident/client
• Splashes can come from pouring liquids
• Masks, face shields, and safety glasses protect the
eyes, nose and mouth
27
Environmental Cleaning
• Environmental cleaning is a critical component of
Routine Practices
• The environment of a health care setting can contain
many germs
• Maintaining a safe, clean environment is essential.
Other elements of Routine Practices
• Safe handling and disposal of sharps
• Cleaning up spills of blood and body fluids
• Proper handling and transporting of soiled linen
• Proper handling and disposal of waste
Healthy Workplace
• Taking care of yourself and getting immunizations is
important to a healthy workplace
• Some recommended vaccines include:
 Annual flu vaccine
 Hepatitis B vaccine
 Tetanus
Stay home from work if sick!
30
Cough Etiquette
Respiratory infections can be easily spread so it is up
to the individual to take the proper precautions such
as:
• Do not come to work when ill
Take avoidance measures such as:
• Covering your mouth and nose when coughing or
• Sneeze or cough into your sleeve or a tissue
• Immediately dispose of used tissues and perform
hand hygiene
31
3. Education
• Education is important to keep everyone safe in
health care
• Everyone is involved in preventing infections
• Attend staff meetings and participate in education
• Everyone should take a leadership role and set a
good example in our facility
32
Going Forward
Routine practices keep you, your patients/residents
and your fellow workers safe
How will you use routine practices to keep you safe?
When you return to your job what will you
do differently as a result of this session?
Thank You!
Image Sources – Module 2
• Getty Images used in Slides 7 & 16
• Microsoft Clipart used in Slides 13 & 23
• All other images are © PHO 2013