Cleaning and ventilation in campus buildings
As our University prepares for a wider return to campus, our Directorate of Estates and Facilities is working on various mitigation strategies to make the campus safer through a COVID secure ecosystem of controls and enhanced cleaning.
Cleaning
Our Estates team has carefully selected and provided long-lasting anti-viral cleaning products effective at preventing the transmission of COVID-19. These are being used by our cleaning teams, and are available locally for staff and in some instances students e.g. wipes in study spaces. These products continue to provide protection after use.
- Managers should print the ‘cleaning touch points’ poster and display in locally managed spaces that sets out roles and responsibilities for cleaning.
Ventilation
There are defined or recommended ventilation requirements by the Health and Safety Executive for buildings, and additional guidance issued recommends fresh air is optimised to not only provide good air quality for the users and occupants, but to reduce the risk of COVID infection.
Estates and Facilities has undertaken a ventilation risk assessment across campus and identified and where possible implemented improvements in air circulation These include changing the settings of our mechanical systems to maximise fresh air input and air changes and running the systems out of occupancy hours to fully change the air. The Estates team is also running a programme of checking window usage for natural ventilation, CO2 monitoring to check air quality, and enhancing ventilation in some areas with mobile air purifiers.
In addition to the above, colleagues should support the ventilation strategy by following the advice in our guidance by:
- Opening windows
- Wearing face coverings in crowded areas