Maintenance and cleaning of premises: how to protect oneself from health risks?

People working in the maintenance and cleaning of premises are exposed to respiratory and skin diseases. In order to avoid any type of accident at work, the prevention and the protection of employees are both essential. 

• To avoid the risk of evaporation or fire of volatile or flammable cleaning products, remember to store them in areas protected by aluminum geodesic domes or aluminum floating roofs.
  
• In order to ensure that work infrastructures are safe and healthy, it is mandatory to ventilate the premises during and after the use of cleaning products.
  
• To make your employees aware of the risks and better protect them, set up a training program on the risks of cleaning products and workshops about good user practices.
  
• Finally, to ensure optimal physical protection, equip your staff with clothing specifically designed for this type of work such as respiratory protection, protective goggles or special gloves.

Chemical industries: what are the suitable clothes?

Even if the chemical products you use in your company are properly protected by aluminum domes or aluminum floating roofs, it is still highly recommended to equip your employees with adequate clothes, in other words, appropriate clothing against acidic risks and other corrosive liquids. 

Called EPI (Personal Protective Equipment), they are divided into two categories: 

• Type 6: includes protective clothing that protects at least the trunk and the limbs such as a combination 
• Type PB6: includes protective clothing that protects only specific parts of the body, such as a jacket or an apron. 

These EPI must imperatively be maintained by professionals who will know how to clean them effectively in order to preserve their protective characteristics and especially will be able to trace the number of washes and to indicate to the employee when it is necessary to carry out its replacement. 

After washing, the professional will add a dose of waterproofing agents. Thanks to them, the garment is perfectly "clean" and the corrosive or acidic products will slip on the fiber without penetrating it.