Airport Business - 23

MAINTENANCE
keep their restrooms as healthy as possible.
These are:
1. Test surfaces to pinpoint areas that
are most likely to become contaminated
due to electric hand dryer usage
2. Employ cleaning technologies
and methodologies that most effectively
remove the pathogens and do so quickly,
because airports can be such busy
locations.

Testing Surfaces
When ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)

industry. However, as important as they
are to the cleaning industry, they do
have their limitations. For instance, as
typically used by the cleaning worker,
they are only able to test an immediate
area, such as a specific part of a door
handle or knob. What about the entire
handle and surrounding area, which
may also be touched when opening and
closing a door? Studies have found that
cleaning professionals often miss the
surrounding area, which can be even
more contaminated with pathogens.
Cleaning technologies are a key
part of clearing your restrooms
of pathogens and keeping
facilities as clean as possible for
passengers.
KAIVAC

pathogens. While this can be a slower
process, both steps are necessary. The
cleaning process removes soils; the
disinfectant kills contaminants.
* Another option, which will likely prove
faster and eliminate the two-step process,
is to use what the worldwide cleaning
association, ISSA, calls "spray-andvac" or "no-touch" cleaning systems.
According to Marc Fergusson with
Kaivac, manufacturers of this type
of cleaning equipment, essentially
what these machines do is dispense
a cleaning solution or a cleaning
solution/disinfectant combination
onto all surfaces. "The machine is then
used to pressure rinse the same areas,
loosening and removing pathogens. This
is followed by using the machine again
to vacuum-up moisture, the cleaning
solution, and pathogens."
Example of pathogens
on a door handle.
OPTISOLVE

rapid monitoring systems were first
introduced to the professional cleaning
industry more than a decade ago, they
were considered a major step forward in
bringing science into the industry. To
determine if a surface was hygienically
clean before ATP came on the scene, an
environmental swab of the specific area
in question would need to be sent to a
laboratory. The swabs would then be
dabbed into a Petri's dish and after a few
days, it could be determined if there were
bacterial or other forms of pathogens on
that surface.
With the introduction of ATP rapid
monitoring systems, the results can now
be determined in 15 seconds or less, a
significant advancement and one reason
these systems are now widely used
throughout the professional cleaning

To address ATP limitations, new
imaging technologies have been
introduced, according to Brad Evans,
chief executive of Optisolve. "The
technology takes pictures of a wider
surface, pinpointing where potentially
harmful pathogens are located and in
what concentrations. These [pathogens]
cannot be seen by the naked eye," he said.
This technology allows airport
administrators and cleaning professionals
to know "more precisely what [surface]
areas of an airport restroom are being
impacted with airborne pathogens from
electric hand dryers so that they can be
hygienically cleaned."

Cleaning
Methodologies
As referenced earlier, once the pathogens
become airborne, they can land on
a variety of nearby surfaces and most
particularly floors and walls. To remove
these pathogens, airport-cleaning
professionals should consider employing
one of the following two cleaning
methods:
* If using traditional solutions to clean
walls and floors, they should be cleaned
twice: once using an all-purpose cleaner
and then a second time, addressing the
same areas with a disinfectant to kill

The Whys
When it comes to protecting human
health, airport administrators are in
a far more challenging situation than
facility managers who oversee many
other facilities including schools and
office buildings. Thousands of people
from all over the world are using their
facilities every hour, every day of the
year. While these people may be perfectly
healthy, they may also be carrying with
them germs, viruses and bacteria that can
impact the health of others from various
areas of the world.
This problem can have farreaching effects. It is also why airport
administrators must be aware of how
pathogens can spread in their facilities.
Electric hand dryers can contribute to
the problem, but we have learned that
people, themselves, play a far bigger
role. Administrators need to take this
knowledge and incorporate appropriate
steps in locating these pathogens and
removing them from surfaces effectively.
No matter what part of the world people
are coming from or going to, taking
these steps will help protect the health
of all travelers. 

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 23
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Airport Business

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Airport Business
