Warehouses and production plants disinfection is essential to protect the health of the personnel and the safety of the goods produced.
In order to comply with the regulations in force and to be able to place all the machinery useful for the activity, warehouses can have very different structural characteristics.
Warehouses have usually a large floor area and high ceilings. Some of these buildings are built with materials that require special treatments in order to maintain their functionality or to have special features such as, for example, materials that provide thermal or acoustic insulation.
The structural characteristics of these environments mean that many surfaces are unreachable by traditional methods of ordinary cleaning. Substances inevitably accumulate on these surfaces and can cause harm to workers and even damage the goods produced.
Warehouses decontamination therefore helps to keep these environments healthier and contributes not only to compliance with the Italian provisions of Legislative Decree 81/08 (Consolidated Act on Health and Safety at Work), but also to ensure the hygiene standards required for the specific sector.
RISKS IN UNHEALTHY PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTS
In warehouses, factories or production departments, the risks that you run in any other working environment can be amplified.
Like offices, these places are frequented by people from different homes, who use different means of transport to go to work (their own car, train, underground, other public transport) and who attend different crowded places (for example, bars, restaurants, etc.). Each of these people has the potential to introduce viruses, bacteria, germs and other contaminants into the site.
In addition, places such as warehouses and large factories may have an internal air recirculation allowed only by the operation of aeraulic systems (ventilation, air conditioning, aeration) that, if not properly maintained, are environments in which molds, fungi, spores and other pathogens such as, for example, the Legionella bacteria, find the right conditions to proliferate, spreading through the air to the entire production facility.
Finally, depending on the type of activity carried out within the shed or factory, there may be allergens, dust and other production residues such as fumes and vapours, which make these environments less healthy.
There are therefore two main risks:
- Biological risk to workers
- Risk of contamination of the goods produced.
From an economic point of view, these risks can result in:
- Decreased productivity, due to the increase in staff sickness and disease
- Negative impact on sales and damage to the company's image, due to contamination or organoleptic alterations of products
Both factors that negatively affect business results.
The environmental disinfection reduces the microbial load on surfaces and in the air, helps to maintain the ventilation systems efficient and free of harmful microorganisms, improving the quality of life of workers and increasing the safety of products, thus reducing all the risks just mentioned.
RISKS IN UNHEALTHY PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTS
In warehouses, factories or production departments, the risks that you run in any other working environment can be amplified.
Like offices, these places are frequented by people from different homes, who use different means of transport to go to work (their own car, train, underground, other public transport) and who attend different crowded places (for example, bars, restaurants, etc.). Each of these people has the potential to introduce viruses, bacteria, germs and other contaminants into site.
In addition, places such as warehouses and large factories may have an internal air recirculation allowed only by the operation of aeraulic systems (ventilation, air conditioning, aeration) that, if not properly maintained, are environments in which molds, fungi, spores and other pathogens such as, for example, the Legionella bacteria, find the right conditions to proliferate, spreading through the air to the entire production facility.
Finally, depending on the type of activity carried out within the shed or factory, there may be allergens, dust and other production residues such as fumes and vapours, which make these environments less healthy.
There are therefore two main risks:
- Biological risk to workers
- Risk of contamination of the goods produced
From an economic point of view, these risks can result in:
- Decreased productivity, due to the increase in staff sickness and disease
- Negative impact on sales and damage to the company's image, due to contamination or organoleptic alterations of products
Both factors that negatively affect business results.
The environmental disinfection reduces the microbial load on surfaces and in the air, helps to maintain the ventilation systems efficient and free of harmful microorganisms, improving the quality of life of workers and increasing the safety of products, thus reducing all the risks just mentioned.
THE ADVANTAGES OF
DISINFECTING WAREHOUSES AND FACTORIES
As we have just seen, in a warehouse, regardless of the type of product created, due to the structural characteristics (often complex) ordinary cleaning is not enough to ensure maximum hygiene. The disinfection of air and surfaces in a warehouse is therefore an activity that brings the following benefits:
IMPROVEMENT OF MICROBIOLOGICAL SAFETY, THANKS TO THE ELIMINATION OF BACTERIA, GERMS AND PATHOGENS AND/OR POLLUTING AGENTS AND THE INACTIVATION OF VIRUSES UP TO 99.98% (HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND OZONE CAN DESTROY EVEN BIOFILMS).
DESTRUCTION OF UNPLEASANT ODOURS IN THE AIR, CAUSED BY THE OPERATION OF MACHINERY AND THE PROCESSING OF PRODUCTS.
AERAULIC SYSTEMS FREE OF HARMFUL MICROORGANISMS (MOULD, FUNGI, DUST).
CLEAN AND DISINFECTED SURFACES: THANKS TO THE GASEOUS NATURE OF OZONE AND THE AEROSOLIZATION OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, THESE SUBSTANCES ARE ABLE TO PENETRATE INTO CRACKS AND REACH ALL THE SPACES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO REACH BY OTHER MEANS (FOR EXAMPLE: VERY HIGH CEILINGS, SLITS BETWEEN MACHINES).
REMOVAL OF PESTS
REMOVAL OF VOLATILE RESIDUES LEFT BY CHEMICAL DETERGENTS USED DURING DAILY SURFACE CLEANING ACTIVITIES.
CONTRIBUTION TO COMPLIANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ITALIAN LEGISLATIVE DECREE 81/08 RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE.
ACHIEVEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE HYGIENE STANDARDS REQUIRED FOR THE SPECIFIC SECTOR (FOR EXAMPLE, THE HACCP REGULATIONS FOR THE FOOD SECTOR).
The environmental disinfection in a warehouse guarantees safer environments with completely disinfected surfaces and air free of bad smells.
WHICH INDUSTRIAL PLANTS CAN BE DISINFECTED
The disinfection is performed in all establishments where industrial activities are carried out or in warehouses used for storage of goods and products, those for industrial use or warehouses for craft use, for example:
- Textile factories (cotton mills, woollen mills, etc)
- Engineering industries
- Food processing and production establishments (meat and fish processing, food processing industries, pasta factories, production of baked goods or confectionery, industrial bakeries, dairies, etc.)
- Paper industries
- Paint manufacturing factories
- Furniture factories
- Plastics industries
Disinfection treatment is applied to:
- Surfaces (floors, walls, glass, ceilings, etc.)
- Machineries
- Air
- Ventilation systems
- Toilets
- Offices (if any)
- Warehouses
And in all other areas inside the warehouse or production facility.
HOW WE DISINFECT YOUR WAREHOUSE
In relation to the structural characteristics and the type of goods produced inside the warehouse (or production plant), our environmental technician will carry out the air and surface disinfection treatment with professional equipment that can guarantee the complete decontamination of the environment, without running the risk of damaging the machineries and products inside it.
In order to maximize the result of the operation of warehouse decontamination, we recommend the mechanical cleaning of the surfaces before carrying out the disinfection treatment.
In order to effectively decontaminate the surfaces and air of warehouses, two disinfectant solutions can be used: hydrogen peroxide stabilized and ozone.
We at GEA recommend disinfecting very large environments such as warehouses with hydrogen peroxide stabilized, carried out the intervention with professional machinery (atomizers or aerosolizers) that deliver the disinfectant substance in microparticles of such a small size that it allows the substance to come into contact with all surfaces, even the most difficult to reach. For places and warehouses where the ceiling is higher, we use (and recommend) equipment with a power that can reach heights of up to 8-10 meters.
Alternatively, ozone can be used. In this case, our technician will place the machinery (ozone generator or ozonizer) inside the shed (or production plant) and sets its operating time according to the volume of the environment. This value is calculated during the definition phase of the intervention and verified on site the day of treatment.
In order to determine the effectiveness of the disinfection treatment in your warehouse, our environmental technician takes surfaces samples, both before and after the intervention: these will be subsequently analyzed by a laboratory specialized in microbiological analysis.
At the end of the activity we will release the technical report related to the disinfection treatment in which it is reported the disinfection protocol used and the results of the analysis of the samples.
In order to determine the effectiveness of the disinfection treatment in your warehouse, our environmental technician takes surfaces samples, both before and after the intervention: these will be subsequently analyzed by a laboratory specialized in microbiological analysis.
At the end of the activity we will release the technical report related to the disinfection treatment in which it is reported the disinfection protocol used and the results of the analysis of the samples.
For more information about our warehouses disinfection service do not hesitate to contact us by filling out the form below!
To purchase products and machines for decontamination of environments visit our shop!