5 FAQs about disinfection services

During the coronavirus crisis, disinfection is one of the most important measures for keeping businesses and services safe from infectious pathogens.

Coronavirus and other pathogens can survive on surfaces from a few hours to a few days. This gives them ample time to transfer between people using a building, vehicles or transport networks when we touch “hotspots” such as door handles, toilet flush handles, payment terminal keypads, shopping trolleys, hand rails, or shared equipment.

Rentokil has many years’ experience in providing disinfection services for specialist customers who demand the highest level of protection, safety and efficiency. We’re offering a range of services to businesses that need to protect their essential operations during the crisis or are planning to re-open buildings affected by a lockdown and wish to ensure the safety of staff, customers and visitors.

Frequently asked questions about disinfection

Here are five questions that we’re commonly asked about our disinfection services.

1. What disinfection products do we use?

All the products we use for disinfection have been approved by the local regulatory bodies in the countries where we provide the disinfection services. For example, in Europe, they fully comply with national approvals or the European Biocides Directive and, in the US, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

Our products can vary according to local approvals and supply, but all are specially formulated to kill a wide range of microorganisms and ensure safety for all the facilities where they’re applied. The solutions we use are highly efficacious and proven to kill not only bacteria but also viruses and fungi. We have a range of products and working with the customer we can ensure the product used will be the correct solution for their facility.

2. What safety measures are taken during a disinfection service?

We have extensive safety procedures in place, developed by our highly experienced team of experts and can undertake disinfection in a wide range of business sectors. Our disinfection services are safe to be applied in facilities that include offices, shopping malls, educational institutions, hotels, care homes, leisure centres, sports facilities and other health providers.

Our technicians wear the most suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) for the disinfection service they’re providing, such as respirators, N95 masks, goggles, coveralls, nitrile gloves, and rubber boots, as appropriate. They’re extensively trained in procedures and practices to minimise risks in exposed environments, including:

– personal protection and proper use of personal protective equipment
– protecting themselves from injury in handling sharp objects
– carrying out appropriate decontamination procedures
– basic good hygiene practices such as regular, thorough handwashing

At all stages of our service, our local team of consultants will ensure suitable safety procedures are applied at every stage, including for compliance with legislative requirements such as for biohazard-handling.

We use an eight-stage process to ensure our services are carried out effectively and safely and your premises can be returned to use as soon as possible.

1. Survey: survey, risk assessment and customer proposal
2. Customer acceptance: disinfection service prepared
3. Site preparation: protective clothing, equipment and products, pre-entry checks
4. Quarantine: quarantine area on site, preparation of quarantine area, preparation of products to be used
5. Treatment: disinfection treatment, application of products, post-application procedures
6. Clean down: exiting post-treatment, removal of contaminated items, shut down of quarantined area
7. Waste: disposal of waste, removal of equipment
8. Customer handback: re-entry time minimum 30 minutes after treatment, customer briefing on the service carried out, handback of premises

After treatment, we work with you to ensure your facility continues to have the highest level of hygiene and you can reassure your employees, customers and visitors you’re doing everything to protect them.

3. How long does a disinfection service take?

The time taken to disinfect an area or a building depends on the size and type of the building and treatment area, but your premises will be safe to use again 30 minutes after the service or as soon as the disinfection products are dry (whichever is the greater).

Our technicians will let you know the duration of the treatment after a survey has been carried out and once the level of service has been agreed. We offer four types of service for dealing with exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19), which have different levels of preparation, disinfection procedures and safety requirements.

– High-level disinfection – for recently confirmed contamination
– Intermediate-level disinfection – for suspected contamination
– Precautionary disinfection – to prepare your premises for re-opening
– Contingency survey – to help you make contingency plans for disinfection in case of future contamination

The technician can discuss the right service for your premises according to your business needs.

4. How much does a disinfection service cost?

The cost varies according to the size of the building or area to be treated, the type of facility and the type of service required.

We’ll need to carry out a survey of your premises first and discuss the service level that’s right for you before being able to provide an estimate of the cost. Contact our local office to arrange a meeting with one of our experts.

5. How often does a disinfection service need to be carried out?

Again, this depends on the type of business and what the building is used for. Buildings with large numbers of people visiting or that are more likely to have infected people bringing the virus into it (and other associated risks) will need more frequent treatments to ensure the safety of users.

Public organisations should have their properties disinfected before re-opening and further treatments will depend on local government guidance and requirements for public health. We follow these as a matter of course so that all our services comply fully with advice from local public health authorities.