In a country recovering from a global pandemic, few statements strike more fear into a business owner than, “someone in the building has been diagnosed with COVID-19.” Urgent questions immediately follow: how do I protect others on the premises? How will this affect my operations and expenses? Do I have to close temporarily?
Paul Davis offers more than cleaning and surface treatments to customers who own and manage commercial properties. The company delivers reassurance and guidance. “We are not afraid of the COVID-19 virus because we treat dangerous pathogens every day on projects across North America,” says Brad Cowan, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Paul Davis. “Our people, our procedures and our knowledge not only enable us to treat it successfully but also to guide customers in effectively fighting the spread of this pathogen.”
Many customers retain Paul Davis to clean and treat their facilities after an outbreak on the premises. The company is on call 24/7 to rapidly implement on-site preventive measures. Technicians employ a variety of safe, highly effective cleaning products and procedures, such as ultra-low volume foggers that apply disinfectants widely and manual cleaning of high-traffic surfaces such as equipment, doorknobs, elevator and door access panels, handrails and horizontal surfaces. Paul Davis teams keep owners and managers in the loop as the response unfolds, reviewing training, equipment, materials and products that are specific to its COVID-19 standard operating procedures. Technicians carefully follow all applicable requirements.
But guidance is a critical service, too. According to Cowan, customers often worry that a verified coronavirus case means they must close their doors to address the situation. Not so, he says: most officials agree that closure isn’t usually necessary. Immediate action is essential, however, and follows a four-step procedure:
Assess the hazards: identify areas that the sick person frequented, creating exposure risks. Identify and inform those who contacted the sick person so they can take precautions or quarantine themselves as medical professionals and/or company policies indicate.
Mitigate the hazards: Close off and restrict access to areas that the sick person used within the last seven days. Increase ventilation by opening doors and windows. Wait 24 hours to begin cleaning to allow respiratory droplets to settle. Then clean and treat surfaces as current official guidelines advise. Many commercial property owners rely on trained experts like those at Paul Davis to complete these hazard mitigation procedures.
Implement pathogen safety procedures: Verify that all occupants follow social distancing guidelines. If possible, conduct regular health checks for people using the structure. Require sick people to stay home. Review cleaning methods and frequencies to ensure high-touch and high-traffic areas are regularly cleaned and treated.
Train: Review and update incident response plans to identify areas of improvement and ensure the plans address future contamination if there is a recurrence. Train staff to handle tenets of the incident response plan.
Facing a confirmed COVID-19 contamination at your property? Paul Davis is ready to respond within four hours of a call for help with evaluating, planning, cleaning, new signage and auxiliary services.