We all know the drill by now: disinfect your hands often, in order to bring the spreading of the virus to a stop. But do you also clean your devices such as PDA’s, tablets, scanners and other handhelds which you use on a daily base?
Whether you work in construction, medical care, logistics or any other field where these devises are utilised, the threat of the virus exists here too. Most of the time, these devices are used by more than one employee, therefore cleaning these devices is very important to prevent further dispersal of Covid-19.
In a recent Australian study, researchers found out that the virus can live up to 28 days on smooth surfaces, at a temperature of 20°C (McFarlane, 2020). At 30°C, no living cells could be found after 7 days and at 40°C the cells died within 16 hours. This means that the virus is most resilient at room-temperature. Because we usually work in environments at room-temperature, it is important that smooth surfaces are maintained as clean and disinfected as possible. Below QMOSS explains step by step how everyone within your company can clean their devices.
Cleaning with a wipe is not enough
If you only clean the screens and buttons, a lot of germs and virus particles can remain on other plastic components, such as on the housing, on edges and in rims (Levin, 2020).
To disinfect properly, you should follow the subsequent steps:
1.Turn off the device (and if the device is charging, pull out the plug).
2. Use a lint-free cloth to remove dust and smudges. Watch out for paper towels as they can scratch your screen. Also don’t use too much water, this can cause damage!
3. Disinfect: dampen the cloth slightly with a display-safe cleanser. Never use cleansers with ammonia or peroxide. Check the manual of your device to find out which type of detergents are safe to use.
4. To clean hard to reach areas, such as the microphone exits and narrow edges, use an appropriate disinfectant and a cotton swab.
5. Leave your device to fully air-dry. Check if the device has dried completely before using or charging it.
Be careful with IP65 (and lower) certified devices. Never use excessive amounts of water and don’t spray disinfectant near microphone exits or speakers!
Be aware that a one-time cleaning does not kill 100% of the bacteria and viruses (Harrington et al. 2020). Although, it will still help a lot when you sanitise your device with a disinfectant. Of course, the basics will always remain important:
– Regularly washing of your hands
– Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
– Don’t shake hands with other people
– Keep social distance to others of 1,5 meters
– Avoid crowded places
Sources:
Harrington, R.E., Guda, T., Lambert, B., Martin, J. (2020) Biomaterials Science. (4th ed.) Cambridge, Massachusetts, Unites States: Academic Press
Levin, B. (2020, August 21st). Here’s your how-to guide on keeping your phone clean
Retrieved from https://us.cnn.com/2020/08/17/cnn-underscored/how-to-clean-your-phone-and-screen/index.html
McFarlane, F. (2020, October 12th). COVID-19 causing virus can survive 28 days on surfaces
Retrieved from https://blog.csiro.au/covid19-virus-surfaces/