Health and Safety Cleaning in Schools

March 08, 2019 Leave a Comment

Parents always know when school is back in session. It never fails, one of your kids is bound to come home sick at least one time, and likely more than once throughout the year. That's because the school setting is full of bacteria, viruses, and sickness of all kinds. The flu is one of the biggest threats. Parents are expected to keep their kids home if they have a fever or exhibit signs of having the flu. Teachers should stay home for the same reason. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. Parents send their children to school sick and teachers often go to work even when they are sick. That means spreading the sickness. That's why health and safety cleaning in schools is so important.

Common Illnesses Found in Schools

There are many illnesses found in schools. Proper cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting isn't always 100% effective, but at the very least, doing these things on a regular basis and properly can dramatically reduce the risk of spreading illness throughout the school. The Centers for Disease Control ()CDC) has indicated these to be some of the most common diseases and health risks found in schools:

1. Shigellosis
2. Influenza
3. Head Lice
4. Norovirus (stomach flu)
5. Common Cold
6. Pink Eye
7. Pertussis

As mentioned earlier, when your children go to school, particularly when they have been out for a long break and are just starting up again, the illnesses begin to pick up. This is because there are so many children gathered in one place and cleaning routines are not always done as effectively as they should be. There are a lot of kids bringing illness into the classroom and spreading it through a variety of methods, such as coughing, sharing utensils or food, physical contact, and even through the act of breathing. With so many children in one building, it is inevitable that illness can spread like wildfire and be extremely hard to keep under control. On the plus side, it can be combated with proper cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting.

What Is the Best Way to Practice Health and Safety Cleaning in Schools?

Regular and effective cleaning methods are vital to the cleanliness and safety of our schools and classrooms, but it is important to use the right products. According to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPS), children (and even unborn babies) are more sensitive to toxic chemicals. The materials presented by the EPA state, "During early development, growth is rapid and organs, especially the brain, are developing. In the US, researchers estimate that 5% of childhood cancer and 30% of childhood asthma are related to chemical exposures." This is an alarming statement. Unfortunately, many schools in the U.S. not only use cleaning products that contain toxic chemicals, they store them on the school premises, which presents an entirely new set of health risks. These products can cause anything from breathing issues, particularly in children who already have respiratory issues, to skin irritation and allergic reactions.

Are There Alternatives to Dangerous Chemical Cleaning products?

There are alternatives to those nasty toxic cleaning products. There are a lot of products that toss around words and phrases like "green" "less-toxic," and "environmentally safe," and products that boast these claims would be great alternatives to toxic cleaning products if they worked the way they were supposed to and lived up to the promises they make. Unfortunately, the EPA has stated numerous times that the current law only requires a company to list the active ingredient chemicals in sanitizers, disinfectants, and fungicides that kill bacteria, viruses, or mold. Because the regulation of terms like "green" and eco-friendly" are so loosely regulated by the government, companies can get away with using them and making claims that aren't exactly true. The Federal Trade Commission has guidelines for manufacturers making these claims, but even the EPA indicates there is uneven enforcement. Studies have shown that some of these "green" products contain harmful chemicals that slip under the radar. Because the regulation is so lax and inconsistent, there can be a lot of confusion for consumers.

At GenEon, we are dedicated to providing cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting solutions and products that meet all of the important points of health and safety cleaning in schools. We use a process called on-site generation that lets consumers create effective cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products that are safer and less toxic traditional chemical cleaners. The process produces very powerful cleaning, degreasing, and sanitizing products using only natural minerals, water, and electricity. This process is called electrochemical activation (ECA). Here's how it works. One of the natural minerals that GenEon uses as a catalyst is salt. Salt is a compound comprised of sodium and chloride. Sodium ions are positively charged and chloride ions are negatively charged. GenEon Onsite Generators expose these ions to a low electrical charge. The positive side of the charge electrochemically converts the chloride ion (Cl) to hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is a powerful sanitizer. The negative side of the charge electrochemically converts the sodium ion (Na) into sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is a cleaning compound commonly found in soaps and detergents. Unlike many other OSG systems, GenEon's system is a Blended Stream System that uses both versions in the same solution. The hypochlorous solution is represented as Free Available Chlorine (FAC) that has 80-200 times the sanitizing power of chlorine bleach. This is called electrolyzed water for cleaning, and GenEon is the leader in ton-site generation of Electrolyzed Water. The end result is a better way to clean and sanitize classrooms.


There are other benefits of on-site generating technology. One, it eliminates the need to store toxic chemical cleaners on site at the school. Using on-site generation tools like our Instaflow system, you can generate high volumes of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products when you need them, making it an ideal solution for schools and other large institutional settings. This same technology is cost-effective as well, which can be particularly appealing as more schools face budget cuts across the board. Since consumers make only what they need as they need it, there is less waste, making GenEon's eco-friendly cleaning products the best choice all the way around.

We also offer advanced delivery systems like our Mist/bMist for easily distributing our products in large and hard-to-reach areas, making this an ideal system for schools. Used in conjunction with our sustainable cleaning products and on-site generators, there's no better way to take a stand against those health risks in schools.

If you are interested in learning more about health and safety cleaning in schools and how to get GenEon's sustainable, cost-effective cleaning systems into your school, call us at 866.217.0205. We will be more than happy to introduce you to a better, safer way to keep your schools and your students healthy.


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