Here at Dycem, our main aim is to help keep your facilities free of contamination. So, here are a few tips to keep in mind when thinking about your contamination control solutions.
1. Don’t ignore the floor
80% (yes 80%!!) of contamination enters your critical areas via floor-level contamination, including on feet and wheels. Therefore, it is vital to put in measures to trap contamination at floor level.
There are many solutions to controlling floor-level contamination, including peel-off mats, overshoes, and foot baths. However, it has been shown polymeric flooring, like Dycem, is by far the most effective method of trapping contamination. Check out our website page where we compare different methods of contamination control. Dycem flooring captures and retains up to 99.9% of foot and wheel-borne contamination.
2. Personnel, personnel, personnel
One of the biggest risks to facilities is the people that work there. Humans generate 5-10 million skin, dirt, and hair particles, per minute! Just the physical action of personnel walking into a critical environment and shedding these particles can contaminate the area. Personnel may also accidentally bring in particle contaminants through external materials, for example, perfumes, lotions, and deodorants, or by wearing improper attire.
It is key that each facility has personnel training in place, some examples of training may include personal hygiene and aseptic techniques. Facilities should also have an established gowning protocol, with personnel trained on the methods and importance of a good gowning technique.
3. Watch out for what you can’t see
Many forms of contamination are not always visible, and these types of contaminants can be particularly dangerous to critical areas. These could include microbes like Salmonella and E.coli, chemicals or toxins, and even fine airborne particles like pollens and mould spores.
Dycem products all have antimicrobial properties for extra protection. BioMaster antimicrobial additive is added to our products and uses silver ion technology to reduce and prevent microbial growth on contact. Dycem flooring also captures up to 75% of airborne particles, as well as retaining these particles so they are not reintroduced to the atmosphere.
4. Identify risk and monitor
It is imperative to identify potential risks to your critical area so you can plan how to reduce each risk. Monitoring the environment is also a must, keeping track of what kinds of contamination are present in your environment will aid in figuring out what contamination control solutions are needed.
Get in touch with Dycem today to get the MOST effective solution for controlling contamination at floor level.