The Importance of Proper Lab Cleaning
While your laboratory staff is comprised of resourceful and intelligent employees, lab cleaning is far from their top priority. Experiments cause your workstations to become littered with contaminants, and the proper cleaning procedures are crucial to keeping your space sanitary. Continue reading to discover:
- The benefits of regular lab cleaning
- Tips for maintaining a sterile workspace
- Your complete checklist for lab cleaning procedures
Five Advantages to Maintaining a Clean Laboratory
Below are a few key advantages to investing in professional lab cleaning:
Accurate Results
A dirty lab can be just as troubling as inaccurate results. All of your laboratory equipment, especially glassware, should be regularly sanitized. As you well know, byproducts of your experiments remain on your equipment. If you’re not cleaning them regularly, contaminants can alter results in your future projects.
Prevent Contamination
To achieve reliable and accurate results, you need an environment that protects your samples from cross-contamination. COVID-19 highlights the importance of heavy-duty sanitation equipment, and several janitorial services include these procedures as part of their lab cleaning duties.
Save Money
Maintaining proper hygiene in your laboratory helps curb unnecessary expenditures. An unorganized workplace adds extra costs to your operations through breakages and spillages. Additionally, contaminated results are a waste of both resources and time. Fortunately, maintaining a sanitary laboratory assists in preventing these expenses.
Now that you know the general advantages of a tidy workspace, let’s dive into a few actions you can take to keep your lab clean.
Regulatory Compliance
Legally, you need to maintain a clean workspace. Every laboratory is subjected to strict health and safety laws. Implementing thorough sanitation methods enables your lab to comply with specific cleaning regulations, which is vital to preventing costly safety infractions.
Efficient Workspaces
Your lab’s hygiene directly correlates to the effectiveness of the tests you conduct. In addition to avoiding contamination, lab cleaning makes your daily operations more efficient. A clean lab is a well-organized lab, saving your technicians the trouble of locating:
- Tools
- Glassware
- Chemicals
- Bottles
- Equipment
By decluttering your workspace, your project can quickly advance from one step to another without confusion.
Tips for Conducting Lab Cleaning Procedures
Maintaining a clean lab is no easy task. Luckily, by following a few tips, you can ease this burden.
Stick to a Fixed Cleaning Time
Laboratories can get hectic. You’re balancing time-sensitive projects with your daily operations, and it can be easy to overlook your cleaning needs. While scheduling your cleaning can seem inconvenient, it pales in comparison to the complications of a dirty lab. Setting aside a daily time slot to conduct sanitary procedures ensures you consistently take care of your cleaning needs.
Create a Sanitation Checklist
Cleaning your lab in an orderly manner is critical to the safety of your working environment, and creating a daily checklist helps ensure nothing slips under the radar. While every lab has its own unique needs, you should always include the following sanitary actions:
- Keep your drawers and cabinet doors closed.
- Remove electrical cords off the floor to avoid tripping hazards.
- Keep aisles clear of any obstacles such as boxes, chemical containers, and other storage items you might have.
- Promptly clean up spills, as this helps prevent slipping hazards.
- Remove additional tripping hazards by keeping your floor free of loose equipment. This includes stirring rods, glass beads, stoppers, and other loose hazards.
- Make sure there’s a clear path to your exit ways, safety shower, and fire extinguishers.
- Always use the correct procedure when disposing of chemical wastes and solvents.
- Make sure there’s sufficient clearance between your sprinkler heads and storage spaces in case of a fire.
- Always keep your work area uncluttered, and store hazardous materials and equipment in the proper locations.
- After finishing a project, thoroughly clean your work area.
- Perform routine janitorial duties such as cleaning the floor and emptying the general trash.
- Make sure laboratory refrigerators, ice chests, cold rooms, ovens, and so forth aren’t used for food storage.
- Periodically examine all electrical cords for signs of wear and damage. If you find any, unplug the equipment and send it off for repair or replacement.
- Always use the proper cleaning equipment.
- In areas with dangerous substances, be sure to don the required protective equipment.
- When handling liquid chemicals, wear eye protection and gloves.
- Wear shoe coverings to avoid tracking dirt into the space.
Partner with a Professional Cleaner
By now, you probably think maintaining a sanitary lab is a lot of work. Well, you’re right—it is. Fortunately, there are several professional cleaning services in the area specializing in lab cleaning. Look around for a provider you can trust, with experience providing clean room janitorial services.
New England’s Top Choice for Lab Cleaning Services
Since 1986, Brenner Facility Service has provided high-quality cleaning solutions to businesses across eastern New England. As a full-service janitorial provider, we specialize in clean room procedures, ensuring your laboratory stays sanitary and operational.
Looking for help maintaining a tidy lab? You’re in the right spot. Reach out to our expert team and discover the Brenner difference.