COVID 19

Commercial Cleaning for Healthcare Facilities: What You Need to Know

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Healthcare facilities are held to a higher standard than other commercial buildings because patient health depends on a germ-free environment. Most healthcare facilities rely on commercial cleaning companies to keep their premises clean and free of harmful bacteria that can make patients and employees ill.

Commercial Cleaning Services Are Essential for Healthcare Facilities

Healthcare facilities must maintain cleanliness to ensure the safety of their patients. Healthcare-associated infections occur when bacteria transfer from a surface to a person.

Transfer of bacteria arises from hand-to-hand contact, contact with contaminated surfaces, and from equipment. Keeping every surface in the healthcare facility clean and free of germs will eliminate healthcare-associated infections.

Healthcare-associated infections occur in the following facilities.

  • Medical clinics
  • Hospitals
  • Urgent care
  • Medical offices


Without proper cleaning and sanitizing procedures, bacteria transmission may occur rapidly, putting patients and medical staff in danger. To provide patients and employees with the safest and most germ-free environment, it is critical to hire healthcare cleaning services, such as the services offered by Corvus Janitorial Systems, that specialize in healthcare facilities.

What to Look for in a Commercial Cleaning Service

Some cleaning services are ill-equipped to handle the rigorous demands of healthcare facility cleanliness. When searching for a professional cleaning company, there are a few things to consider.

Hospital-Grade Cleaners and Disinfectants

Because healthcare organizations provide care for the sick and dying, hiring a commercial cleaning service that uses hospital-grade cleaners and disinfectants is critical. High-level cleaning products kill bacteria and reduce the risks of infection transfers.

Waste and Contaminant Disposal

Proper waste and contaminant disposal is an integral service offered by professional cleaning companies. Choose a commercial cleaner that is well-versed in handling bio-waste correctly.

Cross-Contamination Prevention

Cross-contamination prevention is one of the most significant challenges for hospitals, medical offices, and other healthcare facilities. You should select a commercial cleaning company with strict protocols in place to prevent cross-contamination.

Healthcare Cleaning Skills

To minimize patient dangers, select a cleaning company with extensive experience cleaning healthcare facilities, including hospitals, surgical centers, and medical offices. The company should have the skills, tools, equipment, and knowledge to handle proper disinfecting and pathogen removal while ensuring facilities are clean and sparkling.

Knowledge

A knowledgeable company is essential for ensuring a healthcare facility has the educational background necessary for understanding the latest cleaning procedures. You need to choose a company well-versed in the latest cleaning techniques to ensure your facility meets industry standards for cleanliness.

Communication Skills

While often overlooked, the cleaning company should have excellent communication skills. The company should maintain prompt communication with you, while answering any questions or concerns you may have. The company should treat you and all employees with care and consideration.

Understanding the Benefits of Hiring Commercial Cleaners

All medical facilities must be free of germs and bacteria that can make patients ill. These facilities must also be visually presentable, free of dust, dirt, and grime and inviting. The following are some of the top benefits of hiring a commercial cleaner for a healthcare organization.

  1. Hiring a professional cleaning company offers a safer and healthier environment. Professional medical cleaning services limit the risks of spreading diseases and infections.When patients receive care in a germ-free environment, their odds of making a successful recovery increase. A professional cleaning company also reduces the risk of communicable diseases passing to healthcare workers.
  1. By seeking a commercial cleaning service, healthcare facilities will present a more inviting appearance to patients. It is essential to remember that healthcare facilities never have down days. You must clean and sanitize multiple times a day.A clean and professional atmosphere makes patients feel more confident in the care being provided to them. Patient satisfaction is integral to healthcare organizations. Healthcare facilities that are unclean cause patients to lack trust in their providers.
  1. Consistency is critical when it comes to cleaning a healthcare facility. When employees are tasked with the role of performing their jobs and cleaning, inconsistency may occur.A consistently clean and sanitized environment is essential for patient care. This environment is challenging to achieve without professional intervention.

Professional cleaning companies have strict protocols. The employees of these companies go through rigorous training to ensure they provide consummate services.

A commercial cleaning service, like Corvus, has the knowledge and skills to handle pathogens and ensure all surfaces are treated appropriately to remove germs.

Securing Healthcare Contracts Is Essential

Professional cleaning companies that want to secure healthcare contracts need to ensure they educate their employees on the healthcare cleaning protocols. The following tips should help a professional cleaning company obtain contracts more successfully.

  • Learn about OSHA standards and those released by the Centers for Disease Control. These agencies offer extensive guidelines on cleaning healthcare facilities. Commercial cleaning services must remain current with the latest cleaning recommendations and abide by best practices.
  • While training is integral when hiring new employees, this training must continue. Offer education courses for employees and keep their certificates on file.
  • Using the right cleaning products is critical for removing the dangers of pathogens from a medical facility. If a cleaning company does not use hospital-grade cleaners and disinfectants, they likely will lose bids on contracts.
  • Before finalizing a bid for a healthcare contract, cleaning companies must conduct a walkthrough just as they would with any contract. If there is any uncertainty when carrying out the walkthrough, withdraw the bid and continue to work on your operation. It is better to wait until the cleaning company is fully prepared for healthcare cleaning protocols.
Healthcare Facilities Require Professional Cleaning

Now, more than ever, professional cleaning is critical for healthcare agencies. Healthcare facilities need companies that can prevent problems like cross-contamination and pathogen exposure.

Professional cleaning companies that want to service healthcare organizations need to ensure they have the staff, materials, equipment, and education to handle the rigorous demands of keeping these facilities safe for patients and healthcare workers.

A professionally cleaned healthcare facility is better able to serve its patients and keep them safe from infection dangers. Commercial cleaning companies provide a needful service for their clients. Corvus Janitorial Systems can help. Please contact us today to learn more about our commercial cleaning services.

Omicron Variant Cleaning and Disinfecting

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Corvus Janitorial is a franchised commercial cleaning business that offers a full range of cleaning and disinfecting services to commercial facilities.

As part of our efforts to keep customers safe and informed, we want to educate readers about the best practices for cleaning and disinfecting to prevent the spread of seasonal flu, COVID-19, and other illnesses.

While the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is prevalent, you can do many things to maintain a safe workspace for your employees and customers. We’ve provided some helpful guidelines on Omicron variant cleaning and disinfecting below.

Why Is Omicron Variant Disinfecting Important?

As more people were vaccinated against COVID-19 and infection rates decreased, businesses felt comfortable relaxing health and safety protocols. In some cases, this included paying less attention to cleaning and disinfecting.

Sadly, the Delta variant was evidence that it was important to remain vigilant. Now, the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly. While it may not cause as many severe cases of COVID-19, it can still be quite harmful to people who are immunocompromised, elderly, or have other risk factors.

Fortunately, it’s possible to mitigate the spread of Omicron, but that requires maintaining high Omicron variant disinfecting standards. The healthiest businesses will be those that establish and maintain vigorous cleaning processes.

Omicron Variant Cleaning Steps

It’s helpful to think of Omicron variant cleaning and disinfecting as two categories: the steps business owners and employees take to ensure a healthier environment and the cleaning and disinfecting measures we offer to prevent the spread of flu and COVID-19.

Daily Omicron Cleaning Processes for Employees

Some cleaning steps you can take every day to help prevent the spread of flu and other viruses include the following:

-Require frequent hand washing or sanitizing

-Clean high-touch surfaces frequently throughout the workday

-Regularly disinfect surfaces with approved products

-Ensure proper ventilation and airflow in high-traffic areas

Professional Omicron Cleaning Methods

We take the health and safety of our customers seriously. Because of this, we have implemented protocols that our crews follow to prevent the spread of illness. Additionally, we provide them with the equipment and training they need to properly clean and sanitize your business.

Electrostatic Spraying and Omicron

Our professional cleaning crews use electrostatic spraying to ensure surfaces are thoroughly coated with cleaning and disinfecting liquids. The cleaner or disinfectant is given an electrical charge, then sprayed onto a surface that has been grounded. This creates an even coating of cleaner, even on the back and underside of objects.

Hospital Grade Disinfectants

It’s more important than ever for commercial cleaning providers to use the best available products. When it comes to cleaning and disinfecting, there’s no denying that hospitals have the highest standards. That’s why we are committed to using commercial-grade disinfectants that have been approved for use in medical facilities.

Proper Use of PPE Equipment by All Employees

It’s important to ensure that every person who comes into your business isn’t at risk for transmitting the flu, COVID-19, or other illness. Because of this, our cleaning protocols always include the use of PPE equipment by all cleaning crew employees.

Contact Corvus Today

Don’t wait to develop an enhanced cleaning plan for your facility. Not only does a clean workplace help you present a professional appearance, but it can also help keep your employees safe and productive. Contact us today to get a free quote for cleaning and disinfecting services.

Cleaning and Disinfecting for the Delta Variant: What You Need to Know

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At Corvus Janitorial, we know how important it is to keep your facility clean and disinfected – especially during the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. Since the pandemic began, we’ve been on the front lines helping organizations protect their employees and customers with professional-grade cleaning and disinfecting services.

That’s why we’ve been keeping tabs on the emergence and spread of the new Delta variant. Unfortunately, just as businesses are starting to open up again and relaxing restrictions around masks, the new Delta variant has been quickly spreading – causing organizations to rethink their cleaning and disinfecting procedures.

The most worrisome aspect of the Delta variant is its increased level of transmissibility. According to the CDC, the Delta variant is nearly twice as contagious as previous variants.

In addition, initial data suggests that Delta can cause more serious illness than previous strains. And while vaccines and masks are two of the most effective methods for preventing the spread of the virus, professional janitorial services that offer cleaning and disinfecting can also help reduce the risks associated with the spread of the virus.

Whether you manage a large commercial facility or a small business, you’ve probably been wondering whether you need to adjust your cleaning protocols to combat the Delta variant. The good news? The same enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols that help protect against the spread of the alpha variant (the original novel coronavirus) will also work against the Delta variant. But that means you need to have a plan.

That’s where Corvus comes in. Our trained specialists can help you develop a custom enhanced cleaning program for your facility to protect against COVID-19 variants such as Delta.

Our professional disinfection services include:

• Electrostatic spraying, pump or battery sprayer, or manual spray process
• Use of hospital grade, EPA registered disinfectants
• Adherence to CDC guidelines including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

As a professional cleaning company, we’re acutely aware of the risks involved in the new Delta variant. So, you can be sure that we’ll be keeping up to date on all new information about the variant and how we can do our best to stop the spread of the virus.

In the meantime, don’t wait to develop an enhanced cleaning plan for your facility. Not only does a clean workplace help you present a professional appearance, but it can also help keep your employees safe and productive.

 

What is a Commercial Disinfectant?

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Commercial vs. Home Disinfectants

Home disinfectants are regular name-brand products that you can find in grocery stores. They’re used to eliminate bacteria and viruses at home, especially on high-touch surfaces, which the CDC is recommending we pay extra attention to right now. Cleaning and disinfecting with home disinfectants is what most people do to keep diseases, like COVID, from spreading through contact with contaminated surfaces.
Regular cleaning and disinfecting are always a good idea. And many common household products, like the disinfecting wipes put out by Clorox or the disinfectant mist produced by Lysol, are registered with the EPA. But even when a home disinfectant is registered with the EPA as an effective product against hard-to-kill viruses, it might not be enough. Commercial disinfectants take the cleaning and sanitizing process one step further.

Commercial Disinfectant Benefits

While many household disinfectants will kill deadly viruses, they still have their limitations. Commercial disinfectants are stronger than home-grade ones, killing a wider range of transferable infections and diseases. And on top of being stronger and more effective, the techniques that trained commercial cleaners use are more effective and efficient, too.
Techniques like cold fogging and electrostatic spraying are significantly more effective ways to disinfect. These commercial-grade products and methods create a 360-degree mist to target every surface and hard-to-reach corner, ensuring that nothing is missed. This type of high-level cleaning and disinfecting is particularly helpful in sensitive and high-traffic settings where keeping things sanitized and safe is a necessity rather than a luxury.

Where Commercial Disinfectants are Used

Among other places, commercial disinfectants are extremely common in:

– Airports
– Hospitals and other medical facilities
– Senior centers
– Schools and daycares
– Office buildings
– Restaurants and food facilities
– Factories and manufacturing facilities

Because these facilities see a lot of traffic, have many high-touch surfaces, and many house vulnerable individuals, a higher level of cleaning and disinfecting is required. Since the first COVID shutdown, we have all learned the importance of maintaining our health and safety. Commercial cleaning and disinfecting services make it easier to do so. By using highly effective, commercial-grade products, equipment, and techniques, we help our clients ensure that their facility, office, or workspace is safe.

When to Use Home Disinfectants

EPA-approved home disinfects are great to use during routine home and office cleaning. Between professional cleaning and disinfecting services and in a pinch, they are an effective way to slow the spread of germs and infections. If you’re cleaning a high-traffic home, an office, or another workplace setting, you should regularly use sprays or wipes to sanitize high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, handles, desks and chairs, light switches, phones and keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks, and countertops. Remember to follow the proper protocols to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your cleaning and disinfecting efforts.
And remember that there is a big difference between EPA-approved home disinfectants and homemade natural cleaning products and disinfectants. Natural products are growing in time with the movement for more eco-friendly solutions, but natural cleaning products that rely on ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda are far less effective than household and commercial cleaning products. Health and safety should be the top priority for cleaning and disinfecting procedures, especially during times like these.

Proper Cleaning and Disinfecting Protocols

Following the proper cleaning and disinfecting procedures will both help ensure that they are as effective as possible and that you remain safe while cleaning. Some disinfecting products might be harmful if they’re left on exposed skin for too long; others might only be safe for use in well-ventilated areas. Wear disposable gloves, clean surfaces with soap and water first, then disinfect. Wear clothes that you aren’t concerned about damaging if you’re using products that contain bleach.
Check your home disinfectant bottles for instructions on dwell time, the amount of time a solution has to stay on a surface in order for it to be effective, as well as other important instructions. With some products, simply wiping them with a rag and walking away won’t be enough. Regular cleaning is a good way to help slow the spread of preventable illnesses. But when it comes to getting a deeper cleaning, disinfecting those hard-to-reach surfaces, and finding some peace of mind, commercial disinfectants applied by trained professionals will carry you farther.

Corvus Janitorial Services

Regular cleaning, washing your hands, wearing your masks, and keeping your distance can help slow the spread of illnesses. But when you need something more, commercial disinfecting services will keep high-touch surfaces and hard-to-clean areas clean and disinfected to reduce the transmission on a higher level. Our service providers are trained to get the job done right and done safely. And you can move forward with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you’ve done your part to keep your facility, employees, patients, loved ones, and community safe and healthy.

Environmental Services (EVS) in Health Care: What You Need to Know

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What are Environmental Services in Health Care

Environmental services (EVS) health care personnel are tasked with helping to stop healthcare-associated infections from spreading. They work with colleagues to prioritize areas that pose immediate health risks, following the appropriate guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting along the way. Environmental service personnel, including many of the individuals who work for and with Corvus Janitorial Systems, have an important role to play in the prevention and minimization of healthcare-associated infections. They help keep medical professionals like doctors, nurses, and assistants safe. And they help protect patients, loved ones, and other visitors, as well.

Where Environmental Services are Prioritized

EVS is important in any setting where infections may linger and spread. Among others, this includes:

· Hospitals
· Outpatient clinics
· Surgical centers
· Walk-in treatment centers
· Primary care doctors’ offices
· Senior centers
· Obstetricians’ offices

These are the places where infections collect, and with near-constant traffic, it can be difficult to keep them properly cleaned and sanitized without professional help. Focused on sanitation, EVS team members clean the patients’ rooms, waiting areas, procedural rooms, surgical suites, and other areas where germs may linger and easily spread. Environmental service positions are the primary defense against serious infections that tend to linger on high-touch surfaces throughout different medical facilities.

Other Locations and Areas Where Environmental Services are Useful

Environmental services are particularly useful in health care and medical settings, especially when the world is battling a deadly pandemic. But these incredibly valuable services have been around long before we faced our first shutdown. And they’ve been used successfully in other areas, too. A few other uses for environmental services:

· The hospitality industry
· Schools and daycares
· Office buildings
· Production factories
· Food manufacturers
· Community cleanup
· Disposal services

A career in environmental services offers many different meaningful pathways. But one that focuses on healthcare and improves the lives of medical professionals, first responders, and vulnerable patients may be the most rewarding. And the availability of environmental service hospital jobs is projected to continue increasing for the foreseeable future.

Environmental Services Tasks

Each visit might be different depending on the type of facility and their needs. But many healthcare facilities need the same thing: regular deep cleanings and high-level sanitation. Because many infections spread easily and quickly, healthcare facilities require a higher level of care and greater attention to detail. Some of the most common environmental services tasks in healthcare settings might include:

· Regularly mopping, vacuuming, and sweeping all of the floors
· Washing the windows and dusting the furniture
· Washing and replacing bed linens
· Properly disposing of waste and other hazardous materials
· Emptying trash cans and restocking supplies
· Disinfecting the rooms, equipment, and supplies with high-level sanitizers

During COVID, these services might be more intensive or scheduled more regularly. They might also set limitations that didn’t exist before, like requiring that you come to clean and sanitize the facility at night while patients are sleeping, on the weekends, or on a holiday. Health care doesn’t take days off. While a job in health care environmental services can be challenging, it is also incredibly and uniquely rewarding.

Electrostatic Spraying in Health Care Settings

One high-level sanitation method that is particularly useful in health care environments is electrostatic spraying. This powerful disinfecting technique is often used to promote health and safety in sensitive or high-traffic spaces, like hospitals and airports. Electrostatic spraying works by applying a positive electric charge to a liquid disinfectant. The resulting spray reaches its target almost instantly and sticks to it. This type of treatment is highly useful in risky and highly populated settings because it offers a deeper and more efficient and effective clean.

And because it is a fine spray instead of a concentrated wipe or a cloth, it makes it easier to target hard-to-reach or otherwise difficult spaces, like the tiles tucked in the back corners of bathrooms, high supply closet shelves, and various other surfaces. An environmental services provider with electrostatic spraying equipment can achieve 360-degree coverage of any area they need to treat. So not only are the high-touch surfaces better targeted and disinfected, but the corners, nooks, and hard-to-reach crannies won’t be missed either.

Requirements for EVS Personnel in Health Care Settings

During and after COVID, the operators of health care facilities might be stricter with their guidelines for how environmental services are performed. For example, they might require that anyone in the building wear sanitary clothing or disposable isolation gowns, masks, goggles, or face shields, gloves, and other protective gear. EVS is, essentially, the first defense against infection control. As such, they’ll have stricter guidelines to adhere to than janitorial service providers in other settings might.

As a general rule, environmental service providers in health care facilities might also be required to sanitize their hands both when they enter and leave exam rooms. When patients are discharged or moved to different rooms, EVS health care providers will clean and sanitize each surface to prepare for the next patient. As the patients are moved around, there might be some overlap, and EVS providers should remember to respect the patients’ privacy. It is an EVS provider’s job to help patients feel safe when they are at their most vulnerable. Be compassionate, respectful, and kind if you do interact with any of the patients during your work.

Corvus Janitorial Systems

If you are a professional looking to start your career in environmental services or you’re an owner or operator of a health care facility, reach out today to see how we can help. For our franchisees, we offer training, support, and numerous other business-building advantages. For our clients, we provide high-level and reliable cleaning and sanitizing services. We offer peace of mind where and when you need it most.

Our high-quality services, proven systems, and dedicated teams are all here to ensure that we contribute positively to the lives of our clients, their employees, patients, and loved ones, and the community at large. Contact us today to request a free quote.

Is Electrostatic Spraying Right for Your Office?

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Electrostatic spraying is a powerful disinfecting technique that is often used to promote health and safety in public spaces. It has long been used in settings like airports and medical facilities as part of a highly effective and efficient disinfecting strategy. But how do you know if electrostatic spraying is right for your office? Or if typical cleaning and disinfecting services and strategies are enough? Here are a few things to consider when it comes to this high-level disinfecting method:

How electrostatic spraying works

Electrostatic spraying works through the application of a positive electric charge to a liquid disinfectant. This combination creates a spray that reaches its target almost immediately and then sticks to it. Compared to traditional cleaning and disinfecting sprays, this method is much more effective. Instead of spraying specific areas directly, electrostatic spraying allows the service provider to achieve 360-degree coverage of the area they are treating. This means that it’s easier to hit high-touch surfaces and all of the corners and crevices that would otherwise be difficult to reach and might get missed.

Why your facility might need it

If your facility has many high-touch surface areas or sees a lot of traffic each day, you should consider electrostatic spraying your office. Electrostatic spraying is ideal for facilities like office spaces, schools, and medical facilities because these are high-traffic settings with many different high-touch surface areas. We can use this incredible and innovative disinfecting method to reduce the transmission of COVID in your facility. Along with things like wearing masks, frequent hand washing, and maintaining the appropriate distance, we can do more.

There are several important ways that we can ensure that we’re meeting safety precautions, protecting each other, and controlling the spread of COVID. With employees back in their workspaces and students back at their desks, social distancing needs to be met with additional efforts. Anyone who can’t work from home or engage in remote learning shouldn’t have to be scared or uncomfortable in shared spaces each day. If your facility is open, you have individuals coming in and out, and you have high-touch surfaces that need extra attention, you need electrostatic spraying.

Where else electrostatic spraying is used

Even before the COVID outbreak began, there were several different types of businesses and locations that made use of electrostatic spraying. One that we mentioned already: airlines. Imagine the number of individuals that walk through just one airport in a day (pre-coronavirus). Imagine the number of high-touch surfaces that they have to disinfect, from seats, belts, bathrooms, and armrests to storage bins, tray tables, and waiting areas. In any airport, there are plenty of areas that require a deep level of cleaning and disinfecting. But it’s not just airlines that use this high-level disinfecting method.

Electrostatic spraying has also long been used in medical facilities like hospitals and clinics, sports and athletic facilities, and other high-traffic areas. If it’s the method of choice in places where traffic is high and the stakes are higher, it’s clear that it should be the method of choice elsewhere, too. Employing effective cleaning and disinfecting services may be the sole choice that keeps your facility from closing during COVID-19 like so many others have already. Many office buildings and restaurants have had to close for a week or two at a time to clean and disinfect after someone tested positive. It’s better to be proactive, slow the spread, and avoid the shutdown rather than addressing it after the fact.

Peace of mind

When people hear the term “electrostatic spraying,” they tend to have several questions. The first one is usually what is it? Next: is it safe? Is there any way that it could be toxic or dangerous? Now that you know how electrostatic spraying works and where it’s used, let’s talk about toxicity. Most people are surprised to learn that electrostatic spraying actually uses fewer chemicals than more standard disinfection techniques. This is simply because electrostatic spraying is more efficient.

Its higher transfer efficiency and reach mean that it works better and can do the job using fewer chemicals. This reduces the chemical exposure for your employees, patients, or students, and also for the environment. COVID may have brought electrostatic spraying out into the limelight this year, but it’s not a new technique. The technology used in electrostatic spraying was invented nearly 100 years ago. It has been used in the background in the auto industry, airlines, hospitals, arenas, and other settings for many years. It is just recently becoming more popular in other settings, too.

This extra step could help protect you until we have a vaccine

With the promising news that the COVID vaccine may be distributed early in 2021, it can be tempting to ease back or loosen up. But now is the time to be more vigilant than ever before. With COVID cases still going up in numbers in many states across the country, now is not the time to slow down. The best way to keep our businesses open and ourselves and each other safe and healthy is to follow all of the guidelines that are being set out for us.

Wear your masks, wash your hands, keep your distance, and stay home if you’re not feeling well. But make sure that you’re not stopping there. In both your home and your business, routine cleaning and disinfecting can help reduce the risk of exposure. Don’t leave the health and safety of your business, employees, clients, students, or patients up to chance.

Conclusion

While we are inching closer, we aren’t back to normal just yet, and we should all be playing our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19. Our high-level electrostatic spraying services will help protect both your business and the people who interact with it. Your employees, clients and customers, and all of their families deserve the peace of mind that comes with high-level cleaning and disinfecting services.

With our high-quality services, proven systems, and dedicated teams, we can help you make the most of your facility and stay safe and healthy until things return to normal. Contact us today for a free quote for electrostatic spraying in your office.