Healthcare organisations are operating under a level of scrutiny that has fundamentally changed what cleaning means in a clinical setting. From operating theatres and intensive care units to aged care facilities and outpatient waiting rooms, environmental hygiene has moved well beyond a facilities management function. As SKG Services executive director John Conomos says, it’s a direct extension of clinical care.
“If healthcare organisations treat cleaning simply as a facilities management function, they risk overlooking its direct clinical implications, and it quickly becomes harmful to patients,” Conomos says.
Healthcare associated infections remain one of the most persistent and preventable risks in clinical settings. Vulnerable patients like the elderly, the immunocompromised and those recovering from surgery are disproportionately exposed to pathogens that can survive on surfaces for hours, sometimes days. While hand hygiene has attracted considerable attention and investment, environmental hygiene continues to be an underappreciated transmission route.
The chemical reckoning
The challenge is compounded by what happens between professional cleans. In high traffic healthcare environments, surfaces are constantly being retouched and recontaminated. Without clear interim cleaning protocols and genuine staff education around maintaining hygiene standards, even the most rigorous professional cleaning programme carries gaps. Consistency, rather than intensity, is where many facilities fall short.
For years, the default response to disinfection requirements in healthcare has been chemical heavy. That approach is now attracting scrutiny from multiple directions. Antimicrobial resistance, patient and staff health, VOC (volatile organic compounds) exposure and environmental sustainability are all converging to reshape what best practice looks like.
As a result, a new generation of chemical free and low chemical technologies is gaining traction. Ultraviolet irradiation and steam vapour systems are being adopted across healthcare settings for their non toxic, low residue profiles. Activated water technology generated through an electrolytic process that eliminates soils and bacteria without harsh chemical inputs has gone further still.
“Innovation needs to be matched with rigour,” Conomos cautions. “Before introducing any emerging cleaning technology, healthcare organisations need to carefully weigh its clinical appropriateness against their specific environment, the vulnerability of their patient population, the complexity of their existing infection prevention programme and any gaps in their current cleaning practices. Emerging technologies should complement disinfection cleaning, not replace it.”
Cleaning as a clinical discipline
Recognising cleaning as a clinical priority demands structural change. Cleaning teams require specialised training, clear escalation protocols and access to the most effective and safest products available. Critically, they need to be recognised as part of the clinical care team.
“Best practice would suggest that the cleaning department utilises a system which gives clear structure, process guidance, workplace health and safety information, checklists and historical data to maintain hygiene and safety levels within a healthcare environment,” Conomos says.
Structured checklists, sign off logs and regular audits ensure protocols are followed consistently. In healthcare environments, consistency is a patient safety requirement, and the metrics used to evaluate cleaning outcomes should reflect that, tied directly to infection prevention data and compliance records.
Effective cleaning addresses only part of the environmental hygiene challenge. Waste handling, sorting and disposal remain equally critical dimensions of safe healthcare operations.
“Not only does waste mismanagement create compliance risk, but it creates unnecessary environmental harm,” Conomos notes. “The most impactful waste programmes are built not on signage alone, but on consistent education, clear accountability and regular auditing turning the right behaviours into everyday practice.”
As infection risks evolve and chemical bans reshape standard practice, environmental hygiene deserves a permanent seat at the clinical leadership table.
A longer version of this article appeared on Hospital and Healthcare
