Over the last few weeks, the UK has seen lockdown restrictions start to ease. From the return to school for some children, to non-essential shops reopening their doors, the nation is carving out a new normal as the COVID-19 crisis retreats.
One of the most welcome returns is sport. Following a sudden halt to the season back in March, many clubs have been gearing up to hit the pitch again in the coming weeks, bringing some much needed entertainment to fans across the country.
Although, initially, most games will be played behind closed doors, the need to keep sporting premises and facilities clean and hygienic remains of paramount importance. Not only to protect players and staff, but to instil confidence among fans that the environment will be safe to return to, at some point in the not-too-distant future.
From changing rooms and training areas, to the stadium and bars, robust cleaning practices in sports venues have never been more critical. They have the ability to stamp out any bacteria and prevent 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 its new ways of working and socialising, the cleaning industry, too, needs to refresh its approach.
We need to move away from mopping and wiping with disinfectants, and adopt a robust processbased 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 Instilling confidence in players, staff and fans 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, and giving a unique, proven, longlasting 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.
By adopting our ‘remove, improve and protect’ cleaning strategy, rugby clubs 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 www.rawlins.co.uk/remove -improve-protect-covid.
