Cleaning and Disinfection for Schools and Daycares
Children touch everything, and they touch their faces far more often than adults do, so illnesses spread quickly through a classroom. Daily cleaning, with disinfection of the surfaces children and staff touch most, is the core of keeping a school or daycare healthy. Below is a checklist of the areas that need attention. Every building is different, so treat it as a starting point for your own scope.
At a glance:
- Classrooms and offices
- Washrooms
- Kitchens and cafeterias
- Gyms and auditoriums
- Lobbies and corridors
- Outdoor areas
- Building-wide touch points
Clean First, Then Disinfect
Disinfectant cannot work through dirt, so surfaces are cleaned with detergent first and then disinfected. In Canada, hard-surface disinfectants carry a Drug Identification Number (DIN) from Health Canada; use them at the dilution and contact time on the label. Public Health Ontario’s environmental cleaning guidance is a good reference for what to clean and how often.
Classrooms and Offices
Chairs, desks and tables (at child height as well as adult), door handles, closets and cubbies, computer equipment and shared toys or supplies, filing cabinets, and floors.
Washrooms
Toilets, sinks, taps, soap and towel dispensers, cubicle walls and doors, garbage cans, walls around fixtures, and floors. Washrooms need cleaning every day and checking through the day.
Kitchens and Cafeterias
Countertops, cupboards, stoves, fridges, seating, cashier stations, vending machines and floors, with food-contact surfaces cleaned and sanitized with food-safe products.
Gyms and Auditoriums
Seating, floors, equipment, lockers, storage cabinets, showers and change-room washrooms.
Lobbies and Corridors
Entrance glass, door frames and handles, floor mats, stairways and handrails, lockers in use, water fountains, and walls at child height.
Outdoor Areas
Tables, railings, benches and the parts of playground and sports equipment that hands touch most.
Building-Wide Touch Points
Light switches and vents throughout the building should be cleaned daily, and the HVAC system maintained and its filters changed on a regular schedule.
Choosing Products for Children’s Spaces
Children are closer to the floor and the furniture than adults, and more of what is on a surface ends up on their hands. Low-residue products, used at the right dilution and rinsed where the label says to, clean effectively without leaving more behind than necessary. Ask your cleaning company which products it uses and why; ours are on our green clean products page.
A written checklist like this one, agreed with the school or daycare and followed on every visit, is what lets staff and parents trust that the building is clean. Contact us to set one up for yours.
Schools are among the buildings Evergreen’s commercial cleaning covers in Toronto and the GTA, and touch-point disinfection cleaning can be booked as a one-off or on a schedule.