The environmental dilemma for aged care facilities is a large one: how do you appropriately balance effective cleaning methods and also work towards significant sustainability goals?
Rubbermaid looked towards Matthew Davison, an EVS director at White Oak Manor, a small chain of aged care facilities across the southeast of the United States, and The York, South Carolina – a healthcare facility and skilled nursing center with 109 beds that provides a range of services from outpatient rehabilitation to nursing care.
The original cleaning protocol was to use a traditional wet mop and mop bucket to clean patient rooms and general spaces at least once daily. This cleaning procedure required that the water and floor cleaning chemical in the mop bucket be changed out after mopping two patient rooms. This resulted in White Oak Manor using 795 litres of their cleaning solution (water + chemical) per day and the staff members changing out the water and chemical solution over ten times during each shift.
The Solution
While meeting with his distributor, Davison was introduced to Rubbermaid Commercial Products’ HYGEN™ Microfibre System and the High-Security Janitorial Cleaning Cart as a solution to improve his current cleaning process. The HYGEN™ Microfibre System provides an efficient and effective clean for healthcare facilities. This system uses flat mopping with microfibre mop pads that remove 99.9% of microorganisms, with water only , to help maintain healthy and safe environments. The absorbent inner layers of the HYGEN™ microfibre mop pad help hold the cleaning solution to clean up to 23 sq. metres per pad. The High-Security Janitorial Cleaning Cart is ideal for storing and moving all cleaning supplies and waste from room to room within healthcare facilities.
Results
Davison implemented the HYGEN™ Microfibre System and the High Security Janitorial Cleaning Cart at the York, South Carolina facility. After converting from wet mopping to flat mopping, he found that he only required 22 litres of solution a day (vs. 795 litres). Over the course of a year, he was able to reduce 278,000 litres of his solution, resulting in a 97.14% reduction in chemical and water usage. Along with a drastic water and chemical reduction, his cleaning process was faster and more efficient due to time saved from changing out the water from the mop buckets 10 times per shift.
The new cleaning procedure and tools enabled Davison’s facility to operate more efficiently and sustainably. Considerations for sustainability are especially important within healthcare facilities where daily water consumption per occupied room is 3.5x higher, on average, than the average American’s water consumption. Davison was recently transferred to the Charlotte, North Carolina location. He was so pleased with the reduction in water and chemical usage and the increased efficiency of his staff, that he converted the Charlotte location’s 180 bed long term care facility to the HYGEN™ Microfibre System.
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