Cold & Flu Prevention – Are You Armed for the Fight?

No matter your facility type, preventing and combating against cold and flu outbreaks are a paramount concern for your business this time of year. It’s natural to worry about safety, as the flu last year lead to a record number of deaths (nearly 80,000). Apart from health concerns, the financial effects that the absence of students, employees or customers can have on your business can be especially alarming.

Take these figures into consideration:

• The Flu is responsible for the loss of close to 17 million workdays each flu season
• Average annual cost of illness to employers is $1,685/employee
• The 60 million student absences caused by cold and Flu each year costs schools $4.2 billion in lost resources
• Student absences cost New York State schools roughly $105/student/day in funding

The best way to avoid the costly consequences the cold & flu could have on your operation this season is to implement an illness prevention strategy including proven products, proper cleaning procedures, and education of your staff.

Deploy Products with Superior Coverage and Kill Claims

A superior product for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces of bacteria and viruses should increase coverage as much as possible and carry kill claims for any sort of germ you are targeting.  Kill claims refers to the amount of time a product takes to effectively wipe out certain types of bacteria or viruses on surfaces. Coverage, in this case, refers to the ability of a product or system to effectively coat and disinfect the entirety of the surface you are targeting.

The Flu virus alone can survive on most surfaces for around two days and even up to 7 on certain hard surfaces.  Because of this you want to make sure you are using products that will easily reach and cover the entire area of your surfaces and quickly eliminate any threats.  One of the best coverage units available is the Clorox Total 360 Electrostatic Sprayer.

Ideal for education and healthcare facilities, the electrostatic technology of this unit introduces an attractive charge to the solution and atomizes it before it is sprayed out.  This makes the individual particles attracted to the surfaces you are targeting and makes sure to uniformly coat them.  It seamlessly reaches the side, underside and backside of surfaces even when sprayed from the front.  Because of the ease of use and effectiveness of the Clorox Total 360 System, you can expect to experience the following benefits:

• Time savings (And thus labor cost savings) – This system is proven to clean and disinfect surfaces 4X faster than traditional methods.
• Superior Coverage – You can cover up to 18,000 ft./hour
• Cost effectiveness – atomizes solution takes less to cover more leading to 65% less solution used

See how Johnston has helped deploy this this solution to prevent illness spread in one of our local school system:

Another great product, especially for smaller scale facilities is the S.C. Johnson TruShot system, specifically their disinfectant cleaners for restrooms and hospitals.  They boast an impressive number of kill claims with low contact times for a broad spectrum of bacteria and viruses.  This easy use system uses concentrated formulas that seamlessly mix with water during use for optimum chemical concentration.   See more information here or by watching the video below.

Introduce Hand Hygiene Stations

Cleaning and disinfecting your surfaces is only half the battle.  Our hands are most often the culprits for transmitting germs from place to place and a great way to limit this is to have hand hygiene stations located near your high traffic areas like restrooms, cafeterias, and conference areas. Our good friends at GOJO® and PURELL® have many products to help with this and our experts at Johnston can help you identify the areas of your business most suitable for placement. GOJO has conducted multiple outcome studies to scientifically prove that a program including GOJO® hand soaps, PURELL® hand sanitizer, and state-of-the-art dispensers will reduce illness and absenteeism across a wide range of real-world settings.

How Johnston Can Help

Johnston offers all of the products above in addition to thousands more to meet your cleaning, disinfecting and illness prevention needs.  Our dedicated specialists can help you identify the products and processes that are most suitable to your unique situation and most effectively combat illness outbreak in your facilities.

Contact a Johnston expert today to set up a time to meet and discuss your wants and needs.

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About Johnston

Johnston has always stood for reliability, commitment, quality, and service. Our heritage means years of accumulated industry knowledge, the ability to see the bigger picture, and the know-how to determine the best possible approach. Combining this mastery with the drive to deliver exceptional results, Johnston goes beyond sales, developing strategic, end-to-end tailored solutions for each customer since 1881.