COVID-19
FAQ
To save you time we’ve put together a FAQ to answer the most common questions we’ve been receiving about all things Covid. If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact your Account Manager.
CMOS has robust processes in place to ensure that your commercial office space is kept safe and clean.
Cleaning: Our cleaning procedures are in line with Ministry of Health guidelines for general cleaning and we use proven cleaning and disinfecting products
Safety: We continue to reinforce to our staff the importance of following Ministry of Health personal hygiene tips, using appropriate PPE, and staying at home if they feel unwell.
Training: We are in regular contact with our cleaners and provide continued mandatory training to make sure everyone in the CMOS family is equipped with the knowledge to keep themselves and others safe, and to keep your office clean
Disinfecting products that we use:
Instant Kill: All Kleen disinfectant and cleaner on all hard surfaces including high touch surfaces. The active disinfectant ingredient is C12‐C16 alkyldimethyl which is one of the Quaternary Ammonium Compounds. Quaternary Ammonium Compounds are listed on the US CDC website as a disinfectant to use against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Any hospital grade detergent/disinfectant is also listed as ‘suitable’ products on the MOH General Cleaning advice.
Instant Kill: Bleach in bathrooms/washrooms on hard non porous surfaces. The active ingredient in bleach is sodium hypochlorite. A watered down solution of sodium hypochlorite is recommended as a disinfectant to use against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 on the US CDC website. The MOH recommends a diluted bleach solution on hard floors.
Proactive Prevention: BioShield®️ 75 (Upon request) application is a microbial shield for all surfaces including fabrics. The active ingredient is Octadecylaminodimethyltrihydroxysilyl propyl ammonium chloride. This product has not been proven effective against COVID19 on any of our trusted resources yet however other forums, and our chemical supplier, tell us microbial shield products are regarded as being effective in reducing the risk of COVID-19 living on a surface. Microbial shields have been proven effective against Swine Flu H1N1 and Influenza A and Bioshield®️ 75 is registered with the EPA.
Everyone has heard the messages from the Ministry of Health. We urge our clients to keep in mind what we call “The Big 5 Hygiene Tips” at their places of work:
– Wash your hands regularly
– Maintain social distance
– Stay at home if you are unwell
– Disinfect high touch surfaces daily
– Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue
Here is a poster that you can print and hang in your office
For safety and comfort, we find that many of our clients like to disinfect their own electronics (e.g. shared workstation keyboards, mice, laptops, phones) as we do not normally offer this service. We are happy to arrange delivery of DIY Workstation Disinfecting Kits at your request and we also work with several subcontractors that can carry out workstation cleans on your site.
We’ve had AMAZING feedback from our clients about the level of service we’ve managed to provide coming in and out of lockdowns and through Alert Level changes. It’s not surprising given our never-ending obsession with market-leading responsiveness and customer satisfaction. As always, it boils down to having cutting edge systems and an extraordinary team ready to fulfil your requirements, even as they change.
Your dedicated Account Manager is more than happy to discuss the details of your individual cleaning service specifications with you. We have found it helpful to clarify that, while our cleaning procedures are indeed in line with Ministry of Health cleaning guidelines, certain job specifications do not allow us to clean to their exact recommendations. For example:
– Job specifications agreed before this year typically involve weekly disinfection of hard surfaces, rather than daily.
– Where we do not clean a site daily, it is obviously not possible for us to disinfect hard surfaces daily.
– We do not typically clean or disinfect personal electronics such as keyboards, laptops, and computer mice. This is, however, something we can arrange for you upon request.
Please contact your Account Manager if you have any questions or requirements. It’s important to us that your specifications continue to meet your needs and are adjusted upon request in consultation with you to reflect any desired changes.
We LOVE it when our clients are engaged with their cleaning and make service requests. We maintain a can-do attitude and always strive to provide outstanding and timely solutions for our clients whenever possible – that’s what makes us special. We appreciate the patience and understanding that our clients have shown throughout the last few months and would like to thank you all in advance for your understanding of the challenges we will face to action all client requests as we come out of Lockdown. We are confident we will be able to help every client get what they need.
Where we’ve agreed to suspend your service for a period of time due to Alert Level changes, our accounts team handles this by generating a credit for you which is factored into your subsequent upcoming monthly invoice. This has worked well to avoid invoices needing to be voided and re-sent – keeping it easy for everyone. The credits are calculated once the suspension period is completed. You are invited to please ignore automatic invoices sent to you during an agreed period of service suspension.
If you become aware of a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 on your site, you’ll need to follow MOH guidelines and first of all, get in touch with your local Primary Health Unit (your Health & Safety Officer should have their details). In accordance with these guidelines, you’ll likely be directed to isolate spaces that the person may have spent significant time in and ensure cleaning is undertaken before they are able to be used. Specific or additional advice will be given by public health officials of any cleaning requirements based on the extent of exposure.
We can help take care of these cleaning requirements for you. Be advised, the MOH does not recommend fogging or misting machines.
CMOS is proud to be one big family. Here are some of the ways we made sure our cleaners were looked after during Alert Level 4 in 2020:
- We paid cleaners working on Essential Service sites during Alert Level 4 at 120% of their normal hourly rate to recognise their efforts and dedication.
- We are committed to keeping our staff in employment as long as we can. We have not made any redundancies through Alert Level 4.
- For cleaners unable to clean non-Essential Service sites during Alert Level 4, we continued to pay them 80% of their regular wages.
- We developed a special leave scheme to assist cleaners who might have been unable to work due to personal or family illness.
- We continue to provide ongoing Health & Safety and cleaning training to empower our cleaners with fresh and up-to-date knowledge.
The information above is based on our understanding of events on 20th January 2022. COVID-19 developments are complex and evolving – circumstances may change after publication that may affect the information’s accuracy. We’ll do what we can to update the information when we become aware of changes, but we can’t guarantee that this information is accurate and up-to-date, and can’t accept any liability or responsibility for any errors in, or omissions from, this information.
