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 contamination control strategies at your organization.
Don’t ignore floor-level contamination
Believe it or not, 80% of contamination enters your critical areas via floor-level contamination, including on feet and wheels. This makes it vital to put measures in place to trap contamination at floor level in critical areas in order to keep them as contamination-free as possible.
There are many solutions to controlling floor-level contamination, including sticky mats, overshoes, and foot baths. However, it has been shown that polymeric flooring, like Dycem CleanZone, is the most effective method of trapping contamination. Dycem’s contamination control flooring solutions capture and retain up to 99.9% of foot and wheel-borne contamination. In comparison, researchers at GlaxoSmithKline found that sticky mats are only 27% effective in preventing foot and wheel-borne contamination.
If you’re interested in learning more about floor-level contamination options for your cleanroom or critical environment, we’ve put together a helping guide comparing the different methods of contamination control.
Prioritise personal hygiene
One of the biggest risks to facilities with critical areas is the people who work there. In fact, 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 this training may include personal hygiene and aseptic techniques. Facilities should also have an established cleanroom gowning protocol, with personnel trained on the methods and importance of a good gowning technique.
Watch out for what you can’t see
Many forms of contamination are not always visible. 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 mold 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.
Identify and monitor risks
It is imperative to identify potential risks in your critical area so you can plan how to reduce each one. 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 for your critical areas.
Get in touch with Dycem today to get the MOST effective solution for controlling contamination at floor level.