The pandemic has swept across the whole world, starting in late 2019 and becoming part of our lives from then on. The new hygienic measures introduced by governments to keep the nations of the world safe (and prevent further increase in numbers) are many and have caused a number of potential complications for businesses but also for our everyday lives.
We’ve looked at a few businesses and areas of everyday life to observe just how hygienic is the post-covid world.
Home
For many, their homes became not only their places of rest and relaxation but also their workplaces. The requirement to stay at home and work from home wherever feasible has redefined the way we’re keeping our homes hygienic.
Regular cleaning and disinfection of high touch surfaces with soap or detergent and water have become part of the everyday cleaning routine. High touch surfaces include worktops, tables and computer keyboards but also door handles, handrails, bathroom surfaces, taps, phones, tablets, remote controls, game controllers and favourite toys.
Always ensure to wipe the cleaning product off and follow up with disinfectant. For electronic devices, we use alcohol wipes to avoid damaging the electronics.
Hygienic cladding is a fantastic solution for those areas in your home where there’s heavy traffic, frequent and rigorous cleaning and where hygienic upkeep can often be quite time-consuming. Thanks to its highly cleanable surface, hygienic cladding applied by expert professionals such as our teams at Goss provides protection yet cleanability for your bathrooms, kitchen splashbacks, mudrooms or garages.
Schools and Child Care
Schools and child care had to adopt new guidelines and practices of cleaning, disinfection and hand hygiene to help reduce the risk of exposure and spread of coronavirus. Hygienically clean signage and notices have been implemented, in corridors, classrooms and communal areas, specifically informing students and staff about correct mask-wearing practices and hand hygiene.
Some schools have made use of the temporary lockdowns to update their surface coatings with new easy-to-clean paints that are ideal for frequent cleaning and increased maintenance schedules and have installed hygienic cladding and wall protection in areas such as washroom, toilets and changing areas.
Additionally, we’ve observed there’s been inquiries about classroom specific projects: hygienic cladding for splashbacks in art classes and food tech classes, labs and science classes requiring hygienic wall paint and cladding solutions for the sink areas and heavy traffic areas. The time pressure on finishing all the upgrades in time for schools reopening have emphasised the need for a team of professional installers like Goss Environmental Coatings to ensure the projects are finished in a timely manner and in the highest long-lasting quality.
Leisure and communal life
Many indoor sports and leisure facilities have had to adapt to new hygienic requirements and implement one-way travel systems for their members to ensure the natural flow of pedestrian traffic, allow for social distancing and adhere to government requirements.
Parks, open spaces and outdoor playgrounds have become the new centres of communal living, under the update hygienic guidelines. Targeted use of disinfectant on frequently touched surfaces such as handrails and benches, combined with discouraging gatherings of large groups of people to comply with social distancing has allowed playgrounds to remain open or partially open during the pandemic.
Restrooms and washrooms remained open, wherever possible, supplied with handwashing products and regularly cleaned by attending staff. More regimented and rigorous cleaning schedules have been implemented, especially on the most frequently touched surfaces and more robust fabrics, coatings and wall protection systems have been utilized to withstand these increasingly aggressive cleaning regimes.
We’ve recently completed hygienic cladding works on a brand new PureGym in Chelmsford, using Jemiclad, high quality advanced Hygienic PVC system, in the shower, changing and restroom areas.
This forward-looking gym provider (with over 250 sites in the UK), expanding aggressively and rapidly in the UK (even in these difficult and uncertain times), have expanded their facilities and site locations, extensively utilising high-quality hygienic cladding systems in strategic coatings. The facilities look great, they use a selection of brand coherent colours, and impervious cleanable welded and thermoformed sheets meet all hygienic requirements and will last a long time – minimising downtime and disruption to these facilities in the future.
Travelling
Whether for pleasure or for business, travel has taken a huge blow in the pandemic. Lockdowns and following quarantine requirements have forced many travel providers to rethink the safety and hygienic conditions of the travel environments.
The rule to use when deciding where to travel and how to get there is to assess how easy it is to comply with the hygienic restrictions and safety protocols of all your travel points.
Travel by plane, long considered to be one of the most challenging due to concerns over the quality of air and proximity of other travellers, has experienced a thorough overhaul. Hygienic measures taken in the departures hall, increased allowance of hand sanitiser gel in your hand luggage, temperature checkpoints and compulsory face mask are only some of the new rules designed to protect the travellers while allowing the travel.
Airlines implemented safety questionnaires and many countries now require a negative covid test to grant access rights.
Within the airports there are one way systems and social distancing marking on the floors, together with new shields, signage, hand sanitising stations and individual business have implemented additional safety precautions to ensure the risk of spreading the virus is kept to a minimum.
At Goss Environmental Coatings we’ve noticed interest from train companies, who have reacted swiftly to the demand of post-covid travel and looked at hygienic cladding as a viable option for the refurbishment of high traffic areas, such as waiting rooms, washrooms and travel corridors. Moreover, one of the biggest advantages of hygienic cladding is that when properly installed by a team of cladding experts, it provides supreme resistance against accidental impacts such as from trolley wheels or luggage handles.
Our world after covid has undergone great changes, some would say there is no return to normal as we all have to reassess our individual set up and ensure healthy and hygienic future steps. Take extra precautions where necessary, to protect those at increased risk of contracting the virus.
The professional and friendly team at Goss Environmental Coatings can take on any project and deliver it to exact timing requirements, especially if you are looking to re-open your business after a lockdown. We provide a holistic approach – hygienic cladding systems, wall protection, coatings and hygienic paints, creating a complete high quality clean and cleanable hygienic surface solution.
