How Dirty is Your School?
When you think about what might be the dirtiest parts of your school, what comes to mind? Toilet seats, perhaps? Certainly not the water fountain, right?
Well, ISSA, the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, has conducted extensive scientific research in schools and discovered that the places most considered clean actually have the most bacteria per inch.
For example, toilet seats have an average of 3,200 bacteria per inch. But the typical cold water tap has ten times that much – 32,000 bacteria per inch!
Which shows that hands are serious carriers of germs. These dirty areas are the most likely to transfer contaminants and spread illnesses among students, teachers and staff. The average student is absent 4.5 days per year due to sickness and illness among teachers can cost schools dearly in relief services.
In order to reverse this phenomenon, it’s best to have top quality cleaning services on a daily basis, sanitising services for common areas such as classroom desks and computers, and routinely scheduled deeper cleans that include carpets where bacteria can accumulate, And of course, encouraging students, teachers and staff to wash hands, use antiviral sanitisers and keep their workspaces neat and tidy will stop sickness before it starts.
This infographic smartly outlines the ISSA findings and shares some more alarming statistics about bacteria, the costs of illness and the longterm effects it can have on student performance and achievement.
ISSA is one of the cleaning industry’s leading resources for research and development of cleaning standards and best practices. They work extensively at an international level with industry associations, corporations, governments and communities to educate and inform on the values of cleaning and increasing the appreciation for cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment and an improved bottom line.
CrestClean is one ISSA’s 6,400 association members and is proud to be a part of this global network of cleaning industry professionals.
© ISSA
