Safe Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting
Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting are ways to reduce the spread of germs, like the virus that causes COVID-19. These practices help programs keep children safe from infectious diseases. But did you know some products used for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting can also be harmful to people, if not used correctly?
Children may be more sensitive to chemicals. People with asthma, allergies, or other breathing problems also may be more sensitive. Take precautions to protect children, caregivers, and staff.
Texas Choose Safe Places (TXCSP) developed several resources.
Online Training
Safe Cleaning for COVID-19: A Child Care Home's Guide to Safe Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting.
We collaborated with Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension Services to develop this online training course.
This course reviews safe and effective cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting methods. Course goals are to ensure the safe use of chemicals while cleaning to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses.
The training emphasizes:
- Regulatory requirements
- Best practices
- Steps for reducing or preventing contact with harmful chemicals
Child care providers can earn 2 clock hours of professional training by completing the course. The course is available in English and Spanish. You can learn more or register for the course by going to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Child Care Catalog.
Safe Disinfecting Toolkit
Another resource is our Safe Disinfecting E-Toolkit for child care homes. The toolkit is free to download and includes printable versions of:
- bleach dilution bottle labels
- bleach safety and disinfecting routine checklist
- EPA’s Safe Disinfecting factsheet
- customizable Safe Cleaning for COVID-19 Sample Plan and Routine
- poster with the number for Poison Control
- microfiber cloths care instruction sheet
- Safer Ingredient Shopping Card
- Texas Choose Safe Places brochure
You can download all resources at once with the E-Toolkit or you can download each resource individually.
Together, we can keep kids safe where they learn, grow and play!